Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
My husband and I live in his grandmother's home that is part of a revocable living trust. My husband has lived here his entire life. His grandmother is alive, and though she is not living here, she allowed us to stay and take care of her home. His brother, came over one day and said, "I'm going to be renovating, you need to move." without ANY paperwork. My husband don't want a "family war" but whenever his brother says' "so and so is going to go by the house and paint today" my husband doesn't know how to respond. Does my husband have more rights to the house because he lives here or can his brother 'kick us out' without providing paperwork? HELP!!!!
2 Answers from Attorneys
If the grandmother is no longer competent to handle her own affairs and your husband's brother is the successor trustee, he may have a right to evict you. If you pay rent, you have some tenant rights, and should consult a landlord-tenant attorney. But if not, it may have become necessary to have a paying tenant in order to pay for the grandmother's care. The Trustee should certainly be willing to show the paperwork which gives him the right to make decisions about the property.
If the house is in a trust, the current trustee stands in the place of the owner. If your brother in law is the current trustee, he can do anything he wants, subject to your rights as tenants. If you are not paying rent, though, you are not even tenants. The key thing you have to determine is if your brother in law is the trustee. If not, he has no right to do anything, but if he is, he has every right and you have either tenants rights or none.
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