Knightsen, CA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

If the will specifically devises real property to you ("I give my house to X") then no, the personal representative cannot sell it without a hearing and court order. But your father's will can't make any directions about the disposition of the property after your death, unless the property is left to you in trust ("I give my house to My Trustee, as trustee for X") in which case the will would give directions for how the property is to be managed and when it may be sold. You need a good probate lawyer to read this will and tell you what your rights are.

An "instruction" is not binding unless it is contained in a properly executed will or trust, or unless there has been a pre-death transfer from your brother. He should have either put this in his will or given the car to you in his lifetime.

There are several issues to your question. As a California Attorney I will try and keep this simple and straightforward. First I want to ensure we are talking about the same terms. So Most of the law that applies here is the California Probate Code 1) Your aunt is the trustee of the trust. As you mention You were named as a successor trustee.You state that she was "not in the trust". I don't know how she talked your grandfather into "adding her back" to the trust but in order for the trust to be modified it would have to be done by your grandfather (settler) in accordance with the terms of the trust or under the California Probate Code. The modification would have to be in writing and have been delivered to the trustee. I assume he was the trustee at the time he was living he may have been the trustee. 2) I would also question the way that your aunt got "put back into the trust" I your grandfather was not competent there may be some undue influence issues that may be a cause to change trustees or beneficiaries 3) You mention that she has be overseeing "the estate of your grandfather" . There may be an estate here besides a trust if property or assets were not in the trust at the time of his death and may be outside the properly funded trust. It is not clear here if the bank accounts you refer to were POD (Payable on Death), Joint accounts, in his name only, or in the name of the trust. Generally a well written trust has a pour over will that bequeaths all property owned by the individual that were not in the trust to result in the trust. If there was no pour over will some property may have to be resolved by the law of intestacy. If there was property (including bank accounts) that were not in the trust, the estate with the properly probated pour over will or through intestacy actions would be the instrument to transfer property . The fact are not clear here how an unrelated uncle could transfer funds. 4) You don't tell us who the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the trust are. California Law is very clear that the trustee must manage the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Your aunt has a legal and fiduciary duty to disclose. California Probate Code outlines the trustees responsibilities and the beneficiaries rights. If you are a beneficiary you have a right to demand a copy of the trust. You also have the ability to petition the court for redress up to including removal, this includes accounting and holding the trustee liable for all property transferred. 5) A trust also just isn't a free pot of money, creditors must be notified and creditors must be paid appropriately before any distributions can be paid out. 6) The notarization without a valid ID is probably improper- if challenged it could negate the transfer. Don't know if that would be a good or bad thing but based on your description this could help (because you have a witness) to the undue influence issues.... I would suggest retaining legal counsel to assist and help you sift through this.