Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Not filing probate for many years

Yes, unless she was placed on title before the mother passed away, it would have to be probated still to clear the title to the property. Actually if she wants to put a home on it she probably can without clearing the title on the property if she is not going to want to take a loan out using the property as security. I still would suggest, very strongly, that the probate does take place. It will clean things up substantially. Her merely paying taxes on the property has nothing to with the title and the ownership of the property. This is a very sophisticated area and numerous aspects of it would have to be discussed with her. More importantly, the property will now because of the time elapsed between the death of the individual and today, have to be reassessed for tax purposes. If she had acted promptly and gotten legal advice she could've filed a parent/child form so the property's value for tax purposes would stay the same. If I'm correct that is a three-year statute limitation. In this case because it is much more than three years the property will probably have to be reassessed and additional taxes paid. She could never sell the property without being in either her name or all taxes and other matters cleared up. I am in northern California, in the San Francisco Bay Area would be more than happy to discuss this with her if she wishes. 925 -- 945 -- 6000

Re: Not filing probate for many years

Unless the land is worth less that $20,000, the property will need to be probated. The process will take approximately 4-6 months and the fees are set by state law. Let me know if you need more information. 925-924-0100

Re: Not filing probate for many years

Unless title was in joint tenancy, or life estate, or trust, the property likely must go through probate. There are simplified procedures for property worth less than $20,000, and property worth less than $100,000, which may apply.

Regarding the taxes, this could be a mess. Under Proposition 58, children are entitled to inherit their parents' property and pay the same taxes under Proposition 13, but the forms allowing this must be filed within three years of the parent's date of death. And, I'm not sure this was in effect in 1983. This would have to be worked out with the assessor and the probate attorney.

She should clear this up, as it will be a title problem if she needs to take out a loan against the property or sell it.