Question about trust and probate

thenash

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
Hi, I am unsure if this should be posted in the trust or probate section as it covers both.

My uncle (my Mom's brother) who was living in the San Francisco area unfortunately passed away several weeks ago. His wife had already passed away many years ago and his only child (who had no children) also passed away a couple of years ago. As my Mother is the next of kin, we are responsible for handling the estate and have been told we stand to inherit it.

My Aunt and Uncle had originally put the house into a Living Trust (which we haven't yet located) but we don't believe he ever got around to changing it. Therefore, I have a couple of questions about the laws of succession. Firstly, as my Aunt and Uncle both put the property into the trust, I assume the house would be split between our family and that of my Auntie's? Also, the bank accounts are all in my Uncles name and not in the trust so I assume only our family would inherit those? And finally, if the trust cant be located and is declared invalid, we know the estate will have to go through probate. As my Uncle had a Joint Tenancy and became the sole owner of the house after my Auntie passed away, I assume in that scenario then again, it will only be our family that inherits it?

Thanks for any help you can give me!
 
Run as fast as you can, actually your mother should accompany you, to see a lawyer.

This is far too big for your mother to address.

Your mom needs a lawyer to sort this out.
 
Thanks for any help you can give me!

In addition to the admonition that your Mom hire a lawyer I would caution you not to assume anything.

I suggest you look up the property ownership records at the county recorder and get copies of the latest deed to be sure about how the property was owned.
 
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