administration of probate

[ariz2073]

Jurisdiction

California

My mother recently died without signing her a Will. So, my brother, sister and i proceeded to initiate probate with a lawyer plus One brother who is incarcerated. I am residing in the house of my mothers and have been for 8+yrs. no other sibling is a resident.
My sister was nominated administrator when probate had been initiated.... In the mean time, there has been no communication from my sister regarding probate proceedings but she has begun to take furniture and personal items of mine from the house when i am not there. What is my legal right as the resident? Can i change the locks on the house?
I am being told that we will have to sell the house even though it is paid off in full with the bank...is this the truth? We were also told that because there is no formal Will filed with the court that the only asset (a house)needs to be divided up and dispersed among the beneficiaries. There is four living children and 4 grandchildren of 3 dead siblings...
If the house has to be sold...and i am the resident...how many days will I have before i will be forced to vacate the premises in the state of california?

 

[army judge]

My mother recently died without signing her a Will. So, my brother, sister and i proceeded to initiate probate with a lawyer plus One brother who is incarcerated. I am residing in the house of my mothers and have been for 8+yrs. no other sibling is a resident.
My sister was nominated administrator when probate had been initiated.... In the mean time, there has been no communication from my sister regarding probate proceedings but she has begun to take furniture and personal items of mine from the house when i am not there. What is my legal right as the resident? Can i change the locks on the house?
I am being told that we will have to sell the house even though it is paid off in full with the bank...is this the truth? We were also told that because there is no formal Will filed with the court that the only asset (a house)needs to be divided up and dispersed among the beneficiaries. There is four living children and 4 grandchildren of 3 dead siblings...
If the house has to be sold...and i am the resident...how many days will I have before i will be forced to vacate the premises in the state of california?

The majority of the heirs (your siblings) wish to sell the house.

You can offer to BUY them out.

If you don't or can't, the house will be sold or partitioned.

The heirs are the siblings, the grandchildren only take a cut if their parent is dead.


This is how it works in your situation (item 1 applies):

A. If the decedent was not married, the estate is distributed as follows:

1. To the decedent's children, who take in equal shares if they are in the same generation.

2. If there are no children or other issue (issue is the legal term for children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.) living, the estate goes to the decedent's parents.

3. If there are no parents living, the estate is distributed to the "issue of the parents." If the decedent had brothers or sisters, they will inherit the estate. If there are deceased brothers and sisters, and they had issue, the issue will inherit the share of the estate that the deceased brother or sister would have inherited.

4. If there are no brothers or sisters, the decedent's grandparents will inherit the estate.

5. If there are no living grandparents, then the "issue of the grandparents" will inherit the estate. This could include the decedent's aunts and uncles, or if there aren't any aunts and uncles, the decedent's cousins. Generally, the oldest generation that has surviving issue will inherit, but if there are deceased issue in that generation, their issue will inherit their share.