Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

My father died and left a will. After his funeral my sisters contacted the real estate agent and together they decided to sale the house for whatever they could get. when the house sold the agent called my sisters and they went up there and received the check and cashed it, and split it among themselves, cutting my brother and me out of the proceeds. The real estate agent had never seen my sister before. I'm the one that gave her the keys to my fathers house. doesn't the real estate agent have a duty to contact the entire family and notify us of the sale? wouldn't she have to honor my fathers will?


Asked on 4/29/15, 4:17 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Either you are leaving out some key details or the whole sale is void. You can't sell a deceased person's house without a probate. If there was a will, the will should have been submitted into probate and followed. I don't see how a sale could have closed without probating the estate. You need to talk to a lawyer in person and go over all the facts and details of what happened here.

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Answered on 4/29/15, 5:04 pm
William Christian Rodi Pollock

I agree. If the property was in the decedent's name, the sale could not have occured. See what the legal title to the residence was at the date of death. It is possible it was in joint tenancy, and this is the reason for the sale occuring, as thsi form of title would avoid probate. A clear inderstanding of the facts is required.

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Answered on 4/29/15, 5:18 pm


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