Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Real Property Deed-Trust Estate
State of CA. My mother (a widow) died 7/06. She has a trust/will; my sister is the executrix. There are two properties in the trust. In her will, our mother has named each of us to inherit a property. The County has approved the transfer of property with the Prop 58 exclusion granted on 9/06. I understand that the deeds were ready on 12/08/06. My sister has not wanted to sign them until after the first of the year (still outstanding). She will not give me a reason as why she wants to delay the deeds. Do you know of any reasons that would benefit her in not getting the deeds? Since I'm inheriting one of the properties, when is the property legally mine? When can I make changes to the property and to property insurance? Thank you.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Real Property Deed-Trust Estate
From the information provided, your sister's reasons for not signing the deeds can not be determined. The property becomes yours upon the deed being signed. However, in California, deeds are generally recorded with the county recorder - in order to make changes to the property and the insurance, the companies may want to see a recorded deed as evidence of proof of ownership.
Re: Real Property Deed-Trust Estate
The property is not yours until you received the recorded deed showing that it has been transferred from your mother's estate (will requires a court order or a trust transfer deed from a trust) into your name. You should not make any improvements to the property without seeking the advice of attorney as the property is not yours yet.
As for the delay, there could be many reasons including taxes -- have final taxes been paid on your mother's estate? Is an estate tax return due? Is the attorney handling the administration preparing a distribution agreement? Are there other debts or obligations that need to be taken care of by the estate? The deeds to transfer ownership of estate assets to the beneficiaries is usually the last act taken.
I hope this helps.
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