Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
A few years back my husbands grandfather passed away with a living trust, leaving any and all real property & material possessions to the youngest of his four adult children and specifically leaving one dollar to each of the 3 remaining. My husbands father was that youngest heir. Then in Aug of 2010, my husbands father passed away unexpectantly, only one day before the birth of our daughter. In the midst of trying to cope with the grief of his fathers death at the same time as becoming a father himself, he believed there to be no rush pertaining to property in the trust. As it turns out, my husbands aunt (one of the adult children who was left $1. in the living trust) took it upon herself to secretly file a document with the court claiming to be the only successor to the trust, filed a quit claim deed on the house listed in the trust and then sold the home in a cash sale transaction as well as sold all other property in an estate type yard sale. We only recently found this out after driving by the house which is about a block away from where we live, and noticing all the changes to the property and then having it confirmed by some of the neighbors that live next to the sold parcel , who happen to be long time friends of my husbands and also know the new occupants of this home. Then come to find out not only did the sneaky aunt do all this, but she then lied on the documents pertaining to the sale of the parcel, claiming it to be only valued at $29,000. and selling it for $25,000. We also just found out that in actuality, she sold it for approx. $110,000. cash even though its appraised at twice that. She also stole a vintage vehicle that was in my husbands deceased fathers name, but the police told us it was a civil matter snd wouldnt do anything.
In a nutshell: The person who sold the property was listed in the trust as to only receive $1. (one dollar) she was really angry with this decision and took it upon herself to steal the property deed from the property then sell it in a cash deal and misrepresent not only herself, but also the propertys actual value. What can we do. Time is of essence due to the latches law.
3 Answers from Attorneys
You need to take all docummentation you have including the court documents to an attorney. There is no way to answer your questions without viewing the trust and the court documents.
I'm sure you know the answer without asking the question. That kind of situation is never going to be resolved in your favor until you hire a lawyer. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area or Sacramento, feel free to give me a call for a no obligation consultation.
If the real property and vehicles were in the name of the trustee of the trust, it should not be too difficult to recover that property. I'm assuming that the aunt that did this was not a trustee. I have no idea what "secret document" she filed with the court, so I am going to agree that you gather as much relevant paperwork and speak to an attorney as soon as possible.
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