Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

How could a lawyer who doesn't know you, doesn't know your father, and doesn't know the identity of the house (address, city, county, parcel number, etc.) possibly guess whether any or all of this story is true?

Most likely, the story is partially true and partially wishful thinking on his part, and yours to an extent, but from an outside lawyer's point of view, it could be anywhere from 97% true with only a couple of technical blemishes as to how it would work out in real life, of the one hand, to pure imagination on his part (not likely).

If you want to research the story, you'll first of all need to identify the property. Property searches can be done on a county-by-county basis (easiest for non-lawyers), looking for his name and your name as possible grantees on the public record at the county recorder's office. Lawyers can usualy search on a state-wide or even nationwide basis to find real property by owner name.

On a broader perspective, maybe rather than snooping around to find out whether the story is true, and to what degree, the two of you should just have a heart-to-heart conversation about family matters, including (if appropriate) elder care, tax avoidance, probate avoidance, family wealth preservation, whether he has a will, whether he has good trust advice, getting copies of his trusts, etc.

I know that in some families this is not possible, for good reasons or bad, but whenever families can plan together, openly and upon good tax advice, they come out better in the long run.

Damn, Whipple's really good sometimes.

You would have to look at the trust instrument. If he has set up a revocable trust, this means he can amend and change his mind at any time, and you may not ever get the house.