Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: written agreement real estate

You gotta be kidding. No one knows how a court will view anything. One would have to have alot more info to handicap this horserace. Sorry, no can help.

Re: written agreement real estate

This "written agreement" is the problem here. Agreements are interpreted by courts to mean what the parties probably thought they meant at the time they wrote them.

The sibling supposedly not on title is probably suing to allege that he is a donee of some interest in the house. If brother and sister intended to do that at the time the three siblings were added to the written agreement, the court will probably uphold the gift and find that the sublings own small partial interests in the house.

However, it's a LOOONG way from that simple concusion based on not seeing one word of the written agreement and a judgment in sibling's favor. The written agreement might be totally defective and have no legal effect. It might have some entirely different effect.

In any case, if the property has to be partitioned, brother would probably be given back his $150,000 investment, so he is somewhat protected even if it turns out he and sister gave away a small share of the house.

Take all the documents including the original deed, will or trust under which brother and sister got title in the first place to a real estate lawyer in your town. Sounds like Round 1 of this fiasco was done without legal advice; now the other side is represented (? I assume ?) in Round 2 and you'll be at a big disadvantage without a lawyer.

Re: written agreement real estate

There really isn�t anyone that can provide you with how the court will react or rule in such a situation. I agree with others in that your first step should be to sit down with a real estate attorney ASAP and sort through the details.

Good Luck!

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