Q: If my mom died and in her will left me the house how do go about legally getting the deed and house

A: If she left it in a Will then you have to go through the Probate Court and get the court to order the new deed.

If she used a Trust then you could skip that step.

A: Generally, the executor named in the will, will have to file a probate with the Superior Court of the county that your mother lived in when she died. Pursuant to that, there would be a hearing appointing the executor after notice to certain persons. Soon thereafter, the executor would file an inventory and appraisal of all probate assets with the court. The executor also has to send notice to the Medi-Cal office in Sacramento notifying them of the death and letting them know that if your mother was receiving medi-cal assistance at her death, they can file a claim for recovery, subject to certain exceptions. Then, if all goes well, and there are no creditor's claims (watch out for California Medi-Cal recovery claim if your mother was receiving Medi-Cal when she died), and also if the property is not sold by the executor during the probate (with notice to the will beneficiaries, heirs, etc), the executor would thereafter file a petition to close the estate and obtain the Judges ruling as to who the property would go to (presumably you based on your facts). That court order is then certified by the court clerk at the request of the executor, and then recorded with the county recorder. That recording of the certified court order works as the 'deed' to the property putting it in your name. There is no separate deed under these circumstances.

I strongly recommend that the executor retain a probate attorney to handle this matter rather than trying to do it themselves. It is not as easy as it may look and Probate judges tend to be sticklers.

A: The law in California is that people who have certain assets with a total value of $166,250 or more have three choices: (1) sign a Will and, after their death, their heirs must go through a year-long court process called probate before inheriting their assets; (2) sign a trust and, after their death, their appointed person [called a trustee] can distribute their assets WITHOUT any court being involved; or (3) do no estate planning and, after death, their heirs go through probate.

Since your mother had real estate, if it is worth more than $166,250 [likely!], then you have to go through probate. If you aren’t familiar with the court process, find a probate attorney to assist you. By law, probate lawyers are paid a percentage of the estate at the conclusion of probate. Best wishes.