Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
dying without a will
a friends dad just died and we are not sure if he had a will. him and his brother have been fighting for years over the property. in febuary his dad signed over brother 1 property but it never got filed in the court until the day after his dad's death. brother2 told brother 1 that for his sake he hopes his dad has a will. does brother 1 have anything to worry about. the property was deeded to him months before his dads death. can brother 2 try to take it?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: dying without a will
The ownership of a piece of property can pass legally with a written document; the purpose of filing it to to give warning to those who do not already know of the transfer that it has occurred. So brother #1 owns the property, assuming that brother # 2 can not show he used undue influence, the father was not mentally aware of what he was doing, or some other grounds to overturn the transfer.
Brother #1 should write a detailed letter to #2 stating at least several of the occasions before their father's death that #2 was told, by anyone, that the property had been transferred and that therefore made him the legal owner. Whether or not there is a Will, the father's estate consists only of those assets he still owned at the exact time of his death. He did not own the property at that time If there is no Will, then the estate first goes to a surviving spouse, if there is no spouse equally to the children of his body and adopted children.
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