Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

You probably will need to speak to an attorney to straighten out all the facts and then write your sister a nasty note. I doubt she will do what is right merely because you inform her of what the law is.

When your father died without a Will all of his property should have passed onto your mother. Part, if not all, of it was community property with her and passed directly to her. She had no power to appoint your sister to d anything wlith the propery except tothe extent she was given the power to handle yuour mother's assets. She could not be appointed the executrix and even if she could that person has no real power. She had no legal right to sell the property and if the facts are as you stated the title company should have discovered that she had no ownership interest; your mother or someone with her power of attorney if she was not available would have to sign for any transfer of title. Likewise the proceeds from the sale would not go to your sister in her name. There may be some liability on the parts of the buyers, real estate agents and brokers involved, and the title insurance and escrow companies.

Go to the county Records Office in the county where the land was located asnd wrtie down all the details of any documents filed, starting from when your father or mother first purchaed the property [if not too many made copies]. Check to see if any probate file opened in the county where he lived. Go by the house and see what condition it is in and if it is rented out or lived in by the purchasers.

Have a face to face meeting with the attorney; tell her you need to meet with her as it is possible some illegal acts were done and before you do anything else you need to know what actually occurred and who did what and why. Your mother and anyone else who might inherit or who can keep people calm should be there. That the attorney has recused herself [recusal only occurs if there is a conflict of interest, she merely had her representation of your setp-sister terminated]. does not reduce the attorney's potential liability for letting your sister commit any illegal acts. If the attorney refuses to meet with you, you can do something about that later on.

Demand to see the records of the estate account and what the current balance is. Immediately inform the bank there is a dispute as to who has the ability to control those funds so they should not make the funds available to any one person or the bank might be liable for any additional loss of funds].

Find an attorney with some probate experience who does not have very high charges and take al the written material and all your brothers and mother to a mutualmeeting wtiht the attorney to see what he/she recommends. You likely will have to file suit against your sister and may need to inform the police she committed a crime. How does your mother and the rest of her children feel about the very negative side effect that wlil occur ?

Good luck.

[not proof read]