Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Selling of Family House in Living Trust
My mother has a living trust naming my brother,sister and I as heirs.The family house is currently occupied by my mother and sister.it is an absolute dump inside,with boxes of papers and assorted garage sale junk my unemployed sister obssessively collects.My brother and I definitely want to sell the house when our mother passes.
How do we get my sister to get rid of the garbage?She is emotionally unstable so we expect a big blowup.Do we call the County Sheriff?The Health Dept?My sister will not have the resources to buy us out although the house is in an exclusive area and the land itself is probably worth half a million by itself.
Options if any?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Selling of Family House in Living Trust
First of all I don't know how old your mother is and what her state of health is. You know the setting your sister up for the situation at this point in time may be a disservice to you. Although in the future, you and your brother will have control of the estate in the future at this point in time that is just an expectancy. Your mother owns the home and she doesn't care about your sisters habits then you can do anything about it. Basically, you know, any kind of attempts to "force" a future situation could read your mother to lawyer to make sure that you won't have the ability to force your sister out of the house. Especially if she is mentally unstable. I would need to know a lot more about your family before I could give you any kind of advice. If you have a family attorney who knows your mother then you might think about talking to he or she. The problem is if it is your mother's attorney there's an attorney client privilege and also he could tip her office to what you might plan in the future.
Re: Selling of Family House in Living Trust
A lot will depend on what the trust says. Is your mother competent at this time? If not, has she signed a power of attorney? Who is the successor trustee of the trust if she dies or is incompetent. You are in a fragile situation, and someone living with your mother could coerce her into amending her trust, and you would know nothing about it. Be careful, and get some legal advice after a review of the trust and associated documents.