Milford, CA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Your situation is far too complex to deal with in this forum. You need to have an attorney review things in detail. If the deed was properly executed and delivered, then the recording would not have been necessary to effect transfer of the property. It sounds to me like you need to file a "suit to quiet title" to the property. This should be done, as soon as possible.

"A/B" trusts can provide many different distribution provisions.  Perhaps most typically, the maximum amount of the deceased person's interest in the married couple's property that can pass free of estate tax will be allocated to a new, separate "sub-trust" called a "bypass," "exemption," or "credit" trust.  That trust is irrevocable - cannot be changed by the survivor (here your grandmother).  All assets in that irrevocable trust will escape estate taxation upon the survivor's death.  The survivor may have rights in that irrevocable trust to income and perhaps powers to invade it's principal for certain needs (e.g., health, education, support, and maintenance).  Most typically, everything else owned by the married couple will remain in a "surviving spouse's trust" which continues to be revocable by the surviving spouse.  The trustee will do an "allocation" of assets between the revocable portion and the irrevocable portion of the trust. I have said "most typically" because your grandparents' trust is not necessarily like that - the trust needs to be reviewed carefully.  Sometimes there is a third trust (a "qualified terminable interest property" or QTIP trust or marital trust), or there could be a "disclaimer trust." If your grandmother has no desire to change any of the provisions of the trust, she doesn't need to do a new trust.  She can (but is not required to) record a notice of your grandfather's death and the fact that she is now the sole trustee.  She does need to give a notice to the Assessor of the county in which the real property is located that your grandfather has passed.  Those forms can be obtained at the County Assessor's website. To make maximum use of her trust, she should transfer title to her other assets into that trust.  By doing so, probate may be avoided when she dies. One last point.  I'm not certain if your grandparents' estate is large enough for this to be an issue, or if your grandfather died in 2010, but if both of these things have positive answers (sufficient wealth and died in 2010) there is another issue - one that must be resolved by a week from today.

It is not clear what your theory is. There is no duty to probate an estate. Failure to do so does not constitute "abandonment" of the estate. It is not clear what your relationship is to the decedent, if any. I think your only hope is to review this with an attorney. If there is a Will that mentions you, you have a better chance. If not, you will likely need to let this go.