Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Death of Seller while in contract of sale

I am presently in a contract for sale of a property in which I live. The seller passed away a month into the contract. After a few weeks the executor contacted me and told me of the death and that she would honor the contract. I have numerous times called, written and faxed her to no avail. She does not respond to me at all now. I have no heat, the plumbing needed to be fixed (that happened at the time of his death) I fixed the plumbing in order to make it habitable (2,400) and have not been reimbursed. Under the circumstance I had no alternative but to fix it.

My question is.....Does the estate have the right to void my contract? Under my lease (I am renting for 6mos with a close at the end of 6 mos)do I not have the right of plumbing and heat??? I am very concerned about the estate honoring the contract of sale. The executor is in Houston Texas and I'm not sure about the laws at all. It is in probate now. Please help me.


Asked on 11/02/00, 1:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: Death of Seller while in contract of sale

The estate does not have the right to void the contract. An executed contract of sale conveys equitable title to you, the buyer, leaving the seller with "mere" legal title.....he has a duty to complete the conveyance and you have a duty to fork over the purchase price. If the seller dies before fulfilling this obligation, the obligation passes to the heirs, while the executor holds the claim on you for the price. This is a simplification in layman's language. The law is covered in an old but still good case called "In re Reid's Estate" decided in 1938 by the California Court of Appeals and published at 26 Cal. App. 362, in case you care to research it.

At this point it seems to me that you are going to need a lawyer, since the heirs and executor either are sandbagging or don't know what they're doing (more likely the latter). In the meanwhile, have they been pestering you for rent?

Very likely you can get this straightened out without a lawsuit but you may need a lawyer to explain things to the other parties and get the ball rolling.

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Answered on 11/19/00, 5:00 am


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