Q: My 89yo father recently passed away. I am "next of kin" as I am his sole surviving daughter. (He has 5 living
grandchildren & my sister died in 1995). After my mother died, my nephew had his name added to the deed to my father's house in CA. My father signed the paperwork to do this. Other than this, there is no will or trust for my father's property. Do I have any right or ability to recoup at least 50% of the property's value? Thank you.
A: Without see the documents, I don't know if your nephew was properly added to the deed. It has to be done in a certain way. With no existing Will, the property must be distributed "intestate," which means that the house would probably have to go into Probate, and the property would be divided according to the rules of "intestate succession." You should consult a Probate lawyer about this to be sure everything is distributed properly.
A: If your father voluntarily added the nephew's name to the deed as a joint tenant upon your father's death your father's interest in the property passed to the nephew by operation of law. Whether this is the case depends on how the deed reads. You should get a copy of the deed and see if they nephew had a joint tenancy interest or a separate property interest. If you are not sure you should have it looked at by a competent attorney.
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