Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Land Owned Jointly
My father passed this year and my mother passed in 1998. They lived in Pennsylvania and my husband and I are in California. My husband and I own a parcel of desert land with my parents and all four names are on the deed as joint tenants. I am an only child and thus the sole beneficiary of my father's estate (Executrix as well). What process must I follow to get this land titled to only my husband and I? The estate is small and no Fed tax return is required. Our attorney in PA has no familiarity with CA Law.
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Land Owned Jointly
If you are all on title as joint tenants, the only thing required is an "affidavit of death of joint tenant" to be filed with the county recorder for each of your parents. An attorney can draft the forms for you fairly inexpensively, or you may be able to get them from a title company.
Re: Land Owned Jointly
I presume that the property is in California, so my answer will be based on California law. When you hold property as joint tenants with right of survivorship, no probate is necessary. What you will need is certified copies of the death certificate for both of your parents.
You will need to record a form called an Affidavit of Death of Joint Tenant. Here is a sample from the San Diego County Recorder's office: http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/arcc/docs/AFFDEATH.pdf. You fill out the form, including the proper legal description, attach a certified death certificate and get the signature(s) notarized. You must does this for each deceased owner. Then the property will be in your and your husband's name. Getting a preliminary title report to verify the current status of title wouldn't be a bad idea.
Call me if you need further assistance.
Re: Land Owned Jointly
You will need to file an affidavit of death of joint tenants.
Re: Land Owned Jointly
You need to get a copy of the actual vesting deed (an attorney can get this for you) and see if it says "joint tenants" or "joint tenancy" in which case you just need to do an affidavit of death of JT along with a certified death cert. If it doesn't have those magic words then you may have a mini (or full) probate depending on the value of the property. In conclusion, if joint tenancy then probably about $200 with an attorney to fix it. If not joint tenancy then somewhere around $1,000 and up depending on what level of probate is needed. Easy to asertain with a few questions such as value of land at death? Let me know if we can help. 916-920-5983 x405. Good luck!
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