Disclaim & Renounce Inheritance of Real property Questions?? (CA) (documentation, fees, insurance)

[JanND]

My Mother died in 2001, leaving her home as I understood at the time, to my sister and my brother. The home is in Bakersfield, and only worth about $45,000. I do not want the home, never have and I live 2500 miles away.

My sister died 2 years ago, and my disabled brother died this past April. I have lived out of State since 81', and have had no real knowledge of the probate laws, or the situation with my mothers house,...and I helped my sister monetarily, and helped my Brother after my sister passed.

I had always considered the house theirs....my brother lived there his whole adult life, supporting my Mother until her death....and he became disabled a few years after.

My Sister had acted as my mother's executor. She never shared anything with me regarding what she had done or what she planned, and I had always assumed the house was hers and my brothers. She took care of my brothers expenses, and while she often complained, she never really shared the day to day.

I sent her money to help, not always, I was raising 5 children...but as much as I could.....and she did the bill paying or whatever. My thinking was she had inherited the house, so while I helped, she took care of the taxes and such. I also found out since her death that she had inherited 25,000 life insurance...Not an issue, but simply explaining, my sister kept what she knew to herself....

After her death it came to light that my sister had never filed anything regarding probate during the years following my mom's death when I began helping my brother monetarily and paying his small living expenses....The house taxes were always paid by my sister, until her death, even when I'd sent money to help, so I had no real knowledge it was still in my Moms name until after my sister died. I had planned on helping my brother put it into his name as soon as we could.

When my brother died, alone and unexpectedly this past April the coroner contacted me, as well as my niece.....as next of kin, I had to send a statement to the coroner allowing my niece and nephew to take care of my brothers remains, and the property.

Two days after my brother died, my nieces husband, called and told me a horrific account of what his estimate had been for hazmat, he said the company was going to gut the living room, pull up all the flooring throughout the house, gut the kitchen....and the estimate was $26,000.
Now, I had spoken to the coroner the night my brother died, I knew that he had died in his bathroom. It was ridiculous.....I told him so...I also told him that by no means would I participate in paying that sort of bill.
I also called the coroner back, and literally re-questioned her about my brothers death...Even she was shocked at what my niece and nephew were planning.

Truthfully, I had been told immediately following my brothers death the hazmatt expense should have been only 2-4,000. He died in the bathroom.

The house is only worth about 45,000 according to the tax assessor online....

So, I called my nephew back immediately, and reiterated that I had confirmed with the coroner about what had transpired in that home, that my brother had died in the bathroom....not all over the house....That they were being scammed.

I even sent my niece links to the research I uncovered the next day, related to scamming companies that prey on loved ones...and charge these exorbitant fees. She and her husband intend to flip the house....I do not care, I just don't want to pay for their business ventures....Here is the link Crime Scene Clean Up - INSIDE EDITION Investigates - News from InsideEdition.com

I asked them to call the insurance company, and gave them the policy numbers. I think that was a mistake in hindsight....I checked later that week, and they had not called the insurance company.

Finding that out....I texted them and reiterated that they needed to contact the insurance company, and that if they choose to use this company with this $26,000 estimate, it would be at their own expense. and they would reap the benefits of a house should they choose to sell it.

This whole situation caused my niece to quit talking to me....until this month. When she did inform me that they had spent the $26,000.

So today I receive papers by certified mail related to my disclaiming and renouncing any right, title......bla, bla. So, this letter that I am being asked to sign states that I was unaware of my interest in Moms' house and that I first obtained knowledge of my interest in the house, upon my brother's death....I am ok with that, it is how I always thought it was already.

My questions are....This letter does not have an Attorney letter head, should it?.....and if I sign this, is it an acknowledgement of inheritance.....will I have to pay Calif inheritance taxes...and could I possibly get stuck paying a 26,000 bill too boot, as this hazmat situation happened between April and now.

I know this sounds disengaged from the situation, which was horrific, losing my last sibling....I am deliberately trying to keep it factual...This has been the worst 2 years of my life.

But, I have to think about my family and the economics if I sign something in error......that could possibly make us liable for this type expense...

If you have made it this far, I appreciate it. Thanks in advance for any information or responses.

[cully]

So sorry about all this. You know what, I'd get an attorney and ask him all this to be on the safe side. It is so mixed up and involves multiple facets and some crazy gullible people who may even be in on the scam or at least don't know what they're doing. Best to get a good attorney to be sure you don't get into trouble.

[JanND]

Thanks cully...
I am going to try to get a consultation. But, having worked for an attorney in the past...criminal, no experience with probate, etc, I will be told.....I have no knowledge of Calif. law. Because I actually left out some of the worst stuff....it really was hard to write this.....But, I have to at least try, to get some guidance. Thanks again for your kind words.

[399083453]

Originally Posted by JanND

Thanks cully...
I am going to try to get a consultation. But, having worked for an attorney in the past...criminal, no experience with probate, etc, I will be told.....I have no knowledge of Calif. law. Because I actually left out some of the worst stuff....

Since lawyers are paid by the hour, you only need to explain the legal parts. This is all you need to say.....

So today I receive papers by certified mail related to my disclaiming and renouncing any right, title......bla, bla. So, this letter that I am being asked to sign states that I was unaware of my interest in Moms' house and that I first obtained knowledge of my interest in the house, upon my brother's death....I am ok with that, it is how I always thought it was already.

My questions are....This letter does not have an Attorney letter head, should it?.....and if I sign this, is it an acknowledgement of inheritance.....will I have to pay Calif inheritance taxes...and could I possibly get stuck paying a 26,000 bill too boot, as this hazmat situation happened between April and now.

Sounds like your lawyer might draw up a quit claim deed to sign and give to your relatives.

Your relationship issues with other family members and their hardships, etc are best left to a psychologist. The lawyer will listen, but doesn't care. He only cares about legal advice.

[Jkgourmet]

My condolences.

I agree with others that you need a probate lawyer IN CALIFORNIA. Teleconferencing and emailing documents can be perfectly fine. Don't waste your money paying somebody who doesnt know California law.

Locate an attorney. Get his/her hourly rate in writing. Write down the LEGAL details. Gather the documents. Fax or email them to the attorney, then set up a teleconference for the next day or so. Keep your eye on the clock.

Stop texting, talkin and emailing your niece and cut off all communication with her husband (who has no claim in this). You'll have to work out the personal issues later.

Do you have PROOF that they contracted with the remediation company for $26000? I'm betting they are lying about it, but if they signed a contract, they ate on the hook. Not you. And not the estate since the court has not appointed a representative/executor.

One more thing. Don't determine the value of the house by tax asessor records. You need to get a proper market value. Any realtor can do that for you. For free. And then you can use that realtor to sell the house, if that's what you end up doing.

Seriously, this can become ugly really quuckly. You need some legal help.

[JanND]

Thanks, I think But, as I said, all comments are much appreciated.

And, yes it all does sound pretty crazy. Were it my decision, I would simply have donated the house to Habitat for Humanity.

I agree, in front of an attorney...I would certainly edit. And, believe it or not, I did edit this....there is much more which is what leads me to my stated concerns.

[JanND]

Jkgourmet Thank you for your condolences and your sound advice. I appreciate it very much.

The only proof I have is that I was recently visiting my daughter in Calif...My daughter and I went to my Mom's home, in another town and we were only able to look through the windows. What we could see was that the carpets had been pulled up, I could not see beyond the living room.

I had contacted both my niece and nephew prior to my trip and while my nephew said that he would be there to let us into the house, he was a no show, and my niece was out of town.

No, I have no proof, just what I was told, by my niece. I also have no papers or anything to show an attorney regarding this situation, other than what I received yesterday, and the papers I had to fax as next of kin to the coroner.

[cully]

Remember don't trust a phone number or fax number your niece or nephew gives you. It could circle back to them. Verify it truly is the office of whoever truly needs to get paperwork. Look it up yourself first.

Why do you need to acknowledge an inheritance that really has nothing to offer you?

Culling through all this, I think basically, as JKGourmet suggests, a lot of it is from years of getting mired in the personal stuff. It may be you need to do nothing and sign nothing with your relatives. Not even an email that could be construed some way you do not intend it to be. You only need to make it clear that, as you always thought and acted and as your relatives always acted, that you have no claim on the house. Defintely NOT that you acknowledge a claim.

[Jkgourmet]

I'm not a lawyer but one of the problems I see here is that nothing was filed with probate in 2001 when your mom died. If you have a will or some other legal documentation to 'prove' that your mom left the house to your sister and brother, I think you would be off the hook. Sister's daughter, your niece, would inherit and you are out of it (which seems to be your goal, correct?)

But the house is still in dead mom's name, right? (Sorry to be so blunt) Without something to show that MOM left it to your sister and brother, YOU would be the owner of that house by the rules of inheritance (you are your dead mother's daughter.) Guess who the county is coming after when the taxes go unpaid, when the weeds and garbage gather and fines are incurred, etc.

You need a probate attorney to get you out of this, especially if im correct that the title to the house is still in mom's name! Even signing a quit claim deed ang giving the house free and clear to the niece has issues related to gift tax (and even at a supposed value of $45000, you have a gift tax problem).

I'm not trying to scare you. I'd bet this is easily resolved if you are willing to just give up the house. But it's considerably more complex and requires a probate attorney, who may well be able to charge the estate for his services.

[JanND]

cully...exactly, I am not trusting them at this point at all. That is where my angst comes from. The call from my nieces husband, a couple of days after my poor brothers body was discovered was horrific.

He said so many graphic things that were not at all what the coroner had described to me when she and I talked the night she came to my brothers home. That is why I called the coroner back myself immediately to check.

This has felt like manipulation the whole time. When I told him that in no way would I be part of such a huge hazmat bill, and that if they did it, it was on their own dime....they quit communicating with me at all.

My nephew even denied me the ability to get death certificates from the coroner, and I had just 2 days before had to sign a waiver so that he and my niece could have the coroner take care of my brother.