Who owns that house?

What if your judgment debtor lives in the home of your deceased parent who appeared to own the home your judgment debtor lives in? What if you can’t find any probate records and the house is still in the parents’ names?

One of many articles of judgment: I am not a lawyer, and this article is my opinion based on my experience, please consult an attorney if you need legal advice.

Of course, you believe that the father left the house to his debtor, however, that is just a hunch. How can you know for sure who owns the house now or who will be in the future?

One way to determine ownership of the property is to get the deed from the registrar’s office, then take the debtor to court with a debtor’s exam, to admit that he lives there. Maybe there’s a living trust. As long as your debtor pays the taxes, no one will know, unless someone blows things up in your debtor’s face.

A shortcut to finding out whose house name is is to use a professional data service. You provide the APN (Assessor’s Lot Number) and certain data services or any title company will display the most recent title.

Some other things you can do to find out who owns the house and increase your chances of getting paid:

1) Is there a properly completed judgment or lien statement (with the last 4 digits of the debtor’s SSN or driver’s license) on file in the county where the parent’s home is located? It is important to file a summary, even if the debtor does not own any property, because it will be tied to the debtor’s future interests when title is transferred to them. If there is already a summary on file, the debtor may not have changed title.

2) Take a copy of the title deed and look to see who owns it. Is the title in the name of a living trust, or only in the name of the parents, or in the name of more than one person?

3) Did the father live in that house as his primary residence, or did he just own the house?

4) Double check, is there an open probate file in the county where the house is located? Even if the house is deeded to a living trust, there is sometimes an probate file for things that were not put into the trust. Did the father also own property elsewhere in another county? There may be a probate file in that county for his primary residence.

5) Living trusts are usually not registered anywhere, so you’ll need to get a copy to see who the successor trustees are. That person is responsible for managing the trust and disbursing the property as provided in the trust. That person may be responsible for their actions or non-actions.

6) Legal action may be necessary to obtain a court decision as to whether your debtor owns the home. Perhaps then you could have the house repossessed by the sheriff (in California, under CCP 700.015), however, you must be fully prepared before this is done. If you do this, it’s best to get an appraisal and preliminary title report before you file the lien; so as not to delay getting your warrant for the auction from the bailiff.

At the court hearing, all links to the property must be listed, along with all other relevant information. This will help the court decide to order the sale if the parent is deceased and there is documentation showing that the debtor has an interest in the property.

If the house was not transferred to a revocable living trust (if it had been, it would be irrevocable upon the death of the settler, eg the father). If the judgment amount is large; consider hiring an attorney for a limited scope of representation, to file a petition on your behalf, perhaps for you to manage the parents’ estate.

In California, Section 8461, subdivision (r) of the Probate Code gives a judgment creditor a potential right to administer the estate of the parents, especially if they have been deceased for some time (at least one year, and a death certificate would certainly help). ) and no other eligible person named in section 8461 has come forward to take charge of sorting out the assets of the estate, which would presumably include the house.

Of course, if a judgment creditor steps in to administer the estate, someone (probably a family member) will screech and one of them will step forward and administer the estate, which is all you want them to do anyway.

The family will hire a lawyer, get a bond (eg, a $300,000 bond costs about $1,000 a year), and then do what you want: organize the assets, sell the house (with or without the consent of the family). of the current occupant) and distribute the income. Hopefully, the judgment debtor’s share of the parents’ estate will cover the amount owed on the judgment. Surety bond protects you from mischief.

It’s not good when you hear: “What else do you have, Mr. Creditor, do you have any proof of your claim?” In court, you should only bring proof of documents that the parties signed under penalty of perjury. This is because the court may take judicial notice of the existence of a document, but not necessarily the veracity of the document. Otherwise, the court could decide that your documents are hearsay.

Becoming the administrator of an estate is not trivial, and most people should hire an attorney. If you end up being the administrator of the parents’ estate (and presumably there was no revocable living trust that became irrevocable upon the parents’ death), you must obtain unlimited authority to sell the assets of the estate, including the sale of the house ( due to the Independent Administration of Assets Act), so you can use the proceeds of the sale to satisfy your judgment.