Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
No Will
My mother past away in 1997, she did not leave a Will. She left 2 houses, a car, and jewelry. I am the youngest of 7 sisters and one brother. One of my sister�s, her name is Geneva lived with our mother at the time of her death and took control of all of her possessions.
In 2005 our father who currently lives in Idaho became aware that our mother past and returned to claim the house. Our father left our mother for another woman in 1980. He never paid child support and left our mother with all the bills.
In 2005 when our father came to claim the house from what I understand Geneva bought him out and now both of the houses are in her name. The house Geneva lived in is the house we grew up in and was in my mother and father�s name. My mother never changed the name and never divorced our father. The other house is actually the house next door. Our mother purchased the house but also had Geneva�s name on the title.
The majority of the family is estranged from Geneva. Geneva is very aggressive and violent. Is there any recourse?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: No Will
With no will and 2 homes, plus personal assets, I think you are going to need to start a Probate proceeding. If someone pases away with an estate with a gross value of over $100,000 a Probate is required to transfer the property (depending on title for the one with your sister, this one may or may not be different.)
You raise many issues with respects to your father as well as your sister and my guess is that only a proper court proceeding can resolve.
If you are near the Pasadena area, we would be happy to meet with you. Regardless if you use our firm or not, you need to retain a Probate attorney and start the proceeding ASAP.
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