Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: mother tranfered grant deed to me

Assuming that the transfer to you was legally valid and your mother had clean title to the property, there shouldn't be any reason whe you cannot refinance the property now. You should probably contact a title insurance company to confirm that you have marketable title.

Re: mother tranfered grant deed to me

I would think right away, but your brief question does raise some interesting issues that might merit your further thought and investigation.

First, is anyone likely to contest the gift deed? Did you mother leave a will, and if so, has it been appropriately handled - through probate, if necessary? Are there any creditors of the estate? Any heirs who might be unhappy? If there was existing financing on the house, did the gift to you violate any provision of the loan? Is there a MediCal claim lurking?

Also, it was probably a big mistake to acquire this house by deed - I assume a gift - rather than allow it to pass to you by inheritance under a will or, better yet, a living trust. As a gift, your tax basis is the same as your mother's - maybe $50K or less if the house were bought back in the 60s. Today, suppose it is worth $400K - a $350K appreciation. If you had inherited the house, you would have a stepped-up basis of $400K. Now, if you sell for $400K, you'll owe capital gains tax on the appreciation, and at 15% that's $52,500 you'll (probably) owe Uncle Sam, plus more to the Guv. Had you inherited and gotten the stepped-up basis, your capital gain would be zero.

I mention this because (1) other people read this site and may avoid this mistake, and (2) there is an outside chance that you can still un-do the gift deed, and that rests on the possibility that the deed was not delivered to you until after her death, i.e., she made it out, put it in her file or safe deposit box, and told you where to find it after she died. If that happened, the deed is probably void, and if you were the heir to the house by will or under the rules of intestate succession, you may be able to un-ring the bell, have the deed declared void, and take ownership with a stepped-up basis.

If facts would support this theory, see a local real estate or probate attorney for details and a second opinion. Obviously, without the right facts including non-delivery of the deed and you being the sole heir, the theory doesn't help you.