Q: My father passed away February 7th of this year.I have been residing in my father's house since June 3rd of 2021.

A: I'm sorry to hear about your loss. If the property is in a Trust, then the Trust may discuss the issue of possession. However, if the property is mentioned in your father's Will, then your brother should file a Petition for Probate so that ownership can be transferred to you and your brother. Under this circumstance, your family may be able to keep the house, however, in most probate matters, the house gets sold and the proceeds get distributed. In this case, it sounds like the Will discusses a 75/25 distribution. I would recommend sitting down with a probate attorney to see if you and your brother can strike a deal. The worst-case scenario is that the house gets sold through probate and then you can use the cash proceeds to secure suitable housing.

A: I never expect non-lawyers to know legal terminology, so I'll start with this: If someone has a Will and then dies, the person in charge of distributing the deceased person's assets is called an Executor. If someone who has a Trust dies, the person in charge of distributing the deceased person's assets is called a Trustee.

Since you mentioned there is an "executor of the trust", which mixes up the legal terminology, lawyers will not be sure if your father had a Will or a Trust. The other lawyer who answered your question assumed your father had a Will, so I will assume your father had a Trust. That way, you will have some guidance either way. The bottom line is that the Trust document will say who inherits the house and whether anyone is entitled to live in the home. For example, it's common for people in second or third marriages to specifically state in their Trusts that, the new spouse has the right to live in the property for their life and, upon the new spouse's death, the home will automatically go to the owner's (first deceased person's) children. So, it's written right in the Trust that someone has the right to live in the home. If your father's trust does not give you that right, you will have to leave. Your brother would need to give you the same amount of notice as a tenant, so generally 30, 60 or 90 days, depending on the state and how long you've lived there. If you do not leave after being given legal notice, your brother can bring an unlawful detainer lawsuit against you and force you to leave. Sorry about that. But, it is your father's home and he is entitled to do whatever he wanted with it.