Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
one registered owner passes
my father in law put my wife as a registered owner on his mobile home, he died does this give her complete control of the property and the contents, there is no will or legal documents. he did give her power of attorney before passing but this expires at his death. she is in Arizona, he died in Arizona, the trailer is in Calif. there are siblings
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: one registered owner passes
The mobile home is personal property and so are the contents contained therein. If you mean that putting your wife as the "registered owner" means that he transferred the legal title to the mobile home to her with the California Dept. of Motor Vehicle or the AZ MVD, then the presumption is that she is the owner of the mobile home. The contents constitute personal property of his estate, and would be inherited according to AZ state law because he died as a resident of AZ.