Living Trust Revocable?

Question

My dad died and he had a revocable living trust. He lived in California at the time of death. All of his property was listed on the trust. I inherited one of those houses. I am now in the middle of selling the house and the lawyer says that he didnt deed the house to the trust. Well, now the lawyer says we have to file a Probate. The thing is there were 5 houses and all listed on the trust and my house is the last one to sell and now all of a sudden this has popped up from nowhere. I find it hard to believe that he failed to list one and list 4 others. Does anyone out there know what i could do? My house closes on Feb 10 2008 and i have been told that in Oklahoma a probate can take up to 2 years. AND if he has a living trust why must i probate? I just dont understand all of this. HELP~~!!

Answer 1

This is simple. You need to either go to the courthouse and confirm if the deed was actually recorded. I'm assuming it wasn't given the lawyer's response. If it is still recorded as being owned by John Q. Public...you are out of luck. If it is recorded as John Q. Public Trust...you are in business. It is also possible, that when the trust was established, a revised deed was prepared but not recorded. It may be required to have "recorded" the revised deed prior to his death to be valid, however. Your lawyer should advise you. Again,...quick answer to your question can be found at the courthouse. Good luck...you have my sympathies.

Answer 2

I agree that there should be a title search (at least a "current owner" search on the properties). If there is no recorded deed from dad to the living trust, you are going to have to go through probate.

One problems is that people often set up living trusts without legal advice. They think that all they have to do is buy a trust agreement and sign it. There is more involved to place a piece of real estate or a few shares of stock into a trust is to just list the asset on "Schedule A - List of Assets." Well, it just doesn't work that way. The assets have to be transferred either in the Records of the Recorder of Deeds for real estate or on the books of the transfer agent for investment securities.

Your dad may have a living trust agreement with no assets recorded in the name of the trust.

The purchaser of the house will have to have a title search done as a condition of getting a mortgage, and it is better that you have started to address the problem now rather than be embarrassed prior to the settlement.

Hire an attorney with real property, probate and trust law experience and rely on his advice. Otherwise, you may not be able to convey good title at settlement on February 10, 2008.

Answer 3

A revocable living trust is a way to organize your assets. While you, the person who created the trust is alive, you can put assets in, take them out, put them back in again as many times as you want. For tax purposes, the trust is ignored. All income is reported under the grantor's SSN and finds it way to their 1040. When the grantor dies, the trust flips to irrevocable because the person who was able to make all the decisions isn't around to do them anymore. The trust comes into existance for tax purposes (it gets it's own tax id). The trustees then follow the trust document. Because the assets that are in the trust now belong to the trust, they do not go through probate. The trustee can immediately sell them. To avoid the possibility that assets were overlooked, many wills will have statement that assets not in the trust are left to the trust. (Even if the assets are in a trust, they are counted for estate tax purposes.)

Answer 4

You should be able to research the county records for the house in question to see how the title is held. Unless he transferred the title from his name into the trust, the trust never held title and therefore the house will pass through probate according to his will.