Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Well, the step would be a "quiet title" lawsuit, asking for a court judgment that you are now the owner of the house. You would need to assert a theory of ownership - a legal or equitable reason why you are now the owner, rather than the heirs or intestate successors of the prior owner.

I'd remind you that your "no living relatives" thought is technically incorrect. Everyone has living relatives. What you mean is "no known close living relatives." There are doubtless living great-great-grandchildren of the eight great-grandparents, and if not, the law could just keep reaching back further and further.

The most likely winning legal theory for your claim of ownership would be "adverse possession," also sometimes called "squatter's rights." You meet at least two of the qualifications - payment of property taxes and possession for more than five years. However, you'd also have to meet the "adverse" part of adverse possession. Your possession would have to be adverse or hostile; that is, without the permission, express or implied, of the true owner.

So, in order to say whether you would have a winnable quiet title suit, we would need more information about how you first came into possession of the house, and perhaps how you remained in possession after, perhaps, a lease expired, or, if you were a guest, your host moved out and left you there alone.

Adverse possession is not the only possible legal theory, but the others would require more information to suggest and evaluate them, including an explanation of the conditions under which you lived in someone else's house for eight years, e.g., were you a caregiver for an elderly friend, a paid live-in housekeeper, or ?

Also, preparing and serving the suit will not be a piece of cake......your quiet-title suit will have to name as defendants any and all persons with a known or suspected claim, and the court would require your lawyer and you to make a diligent search for possible claimants, including relatives of the deceased, former owners, lenders and former lenders, anyone appearing in the chain of title or public records with a possible interest in the property. You would probably have to publish a legal notice in local newspapers. Once adequate efforts to notify potential claimants could be shown, then the judge would hear your claim and decide whether you had established all the elements of an adverse possession. If so, you'd get a judgment awarding you fee ownership that could be placed in the public record.

Good answer from Bryan.

Yes, the process involves filing legal action and trying to convince the judge your 'adverse possession' based claim is valid. If serious about pursuing it, feel free to contact me about the facts, risks, costs, etc.