Q: 3 sisters were giving land by their parents. Can the 2 living sisters sell the land?

A: Yes but who would buy 2/3 of a piece of property? ALL THREE would need to sell (unless of course the third one is the person buying!) ... This assumes the land was left without 'rights of survivorship' which is the most common sort of gift. In short, if your deceased sister's estate owns an interest, all her heirs (children, spouse etc.) would need to sign off on any sale as well as the two surviving sisters. If there WERE survivorship language, that might not be the case. Without seeing the deeds and gift documents it is impossible to say for sure!

If you have questions about how to do this and what paperwork is necessary, please consult with a local real estate attorney to insure this is done right!

A: This will expand on the prior answer and assumes that the land is located in California.

Actually, the two living sisters could force a sale of the land. Where multiple people own a piece of property, and some but less than all wish to sell, we use an action in partition. A partition action is where the court appoints a neutral party to sell the land and then the court divides the proceeds among the owners. (This is a simple description.)

The wrinkle in your case is that one of the owners has died. You did not mention if your sister's estate went through probate or not. If so, and her share was distributed though the process then the partition action would be between the two living sisters and the person(s) who inherited the land.

If not, then you will most likely need to open a probate and have a personal representative appointed to represent your sister's estate. (If probate occurred but the property not distributed, you would reopen the probate.)

Now, if probate is ongoing or needs to be opened, this is not such a bad thing. Not only could one of the sisters be appointed as the representative, but the probate process provides the same sort of resolution as a partition action.

Of course, Dr. Zichi is correct that a review of the deeds in information about your sisters estate is required to give a complete and accurate answer. If the property is located in California (real property law is subject to the jurisdiction the property is in) you should contact the county bar association where the property is located. Most California County Bar Associations have a lawyer referral service which provides a low or no cost consultation with an experienced attorney familiar with the area of law you need assistance in.

(If the property is located in a state other then California, you will need to speak to an attorney who practices in that state.)

Best Wishes.