Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: sole beneficiary rights

Fair doesn't count. If your parents are now dead and your brother was a joint tenant he owns the property and owes you nothing. If your parents are still alive and well, they should get a quitclaim deed from your brother back to them and change title to the property, the CD and any other assets they may have into the name of a living trust that they should establish, including related trust documents.

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Re: sole beneficiary rights

If you brother and parents were on title as joint tenants and your parents passed-away. The property belongs to your brother by operation of law. It's his without argument. If you are the sole beneficiary on the CD it is yours by operation of law. It's yours without argument. Now if your parents wanted you guys to divided everything equally, then you're getting into moral on not legal issues.