Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

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hello, ok straight to the point, my neighbor age 93 and a military veteran, just passed away three weeks ago, he didnt have any family members. He's been our neighbor for 25 years, we became his legal caretaker when he was sick,we have paperwork to prove this. suddenly some ''old'' friends of his cameinto the picture trying to take his estate, when in his last days our neighbor told my mother he wanted her to have everything but there wasnt any legal paperwork done. So the lady(old fiend) got a lawyer and we got the same one that way the government cant take the home. Should we get a different lawyer or should we stick to the same lawyer? TO protect the property against the government. The lady has said alot of lies and has claimed to be in his bank account which wasnt true and have a copy of his will, which wasnt true either. there was gonna be legal testaments done but our neighbor unfortunatly passed away prematurally. HE was real close with us and we took care of our friend when he started feeling sick, we took him to the hospital and took care of him when he got back. The social worker at the hospital knows and witnessed what our neighbor told our family.


Asked on 4/11/05, 11:41 am

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

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It seems to me that you should, at minimum, have an initial (presumably free) consultation with a local lawyer who practices in the area of probate administration, a sub-specialty within the field of wills, trusts and estates.

This is primarily a probate law situation rather than real estate, and you could re-ask the question on LawGuru under that heading and maybe get more (and more knowledgeable) answers.

And, by all means, you should use a lawyer who has no connection with any other possible heir, claimant, or interested party. Your lawyer should be loyal to your interest alone.

I probably should add that California does not recognize a right to inherit based upon care giving alone; as far as I know as a non-specialist in this area you must either be named in a valid will, be related by consanguinity (a "blood relative") or be the spouse. Other forms of paperwork such as durable powers of attorney generally don't suffice as wills.

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Answered on 4/11/05, 1:32 pm


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