Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: AMENDED TRUST/of Alzeheimer/dementia Patient/our grandmother

Your grandmother's death will not stop the foreclosure, nor will any action that I know of which you could take in probate court.

First you'll need to determine whether it's financially worthwhile to stop the foreclosure (is the lien small enough that bringing it current or paying it off would be worth it?).

I'd suggest that you petition the probate court for 2 things: first, for a determination that if you pay the debt, you would be eligible for reimbursement by your grandmother's estate (probate estate and/or trust estate). The court might grant a petition like that on the condition that there are sufficient assets in the estate to pay you back (in other words, if the estate is otherwise insolvent, the Court wouldn't help you collect - you'd be out of luck).

The second thing I would ask for, of course, is a determination that your grandmother was incompetent at the time she made the changes in the trust and that the previous trust should be restored.

You need to act quickly, so find a competent attorney to assist as soon as possible. In California the proper place for trust administration is the county where the TRUSTEE resides. I'm assuming that the person who changed the trust also named himself/herself as trustee. So presumably the trust would be administered in the county where he/she lives.

If your grandmother was not a California resident, you'll need to know what the trust says about "venue" or "choice of law" (which state's law applies to the trust). In that case, you'd need an attorney in the state that has venue.

This information is not intended to substitute for professional legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. You should accept legal advice only from a licensed legal professional with whom you have an attorney-client relationship.