A trust is a great way to determine what happens to your property after death and ensure that it is distributed the way you intended. This also applied to real property. If the real property is a house, that may create disputes over how it is divided, especially if your trust grants an interest in…
Continue reading ›Under California law, paying someone’s property taxes does not automatically grant ownership of the property. In California, paying someone else’s taxes, even if done in good faith, is considered a gesture of goodwill or a means of avoiding a tax lien, but no matter the motive, payment does not transfer legal ownership. If, however, individuals…
Continue reading ›Owning property can come in different forms of ownership which grants you different rights. If you acquire an interest in property by sale or inheritance you may end up holding a percentage property interest while another person holds the other part of that interest. When co-owning property with someone, both of your names are on…
Continue reading ›An Assembly bill applying to decedents’ estates was finalized on August 29, 2024. The bill will amend six sections of the Probate Code (Cal. Prob. Code § 13100-13101, 13150-13152, 13154) and repeal one section (Prob. Code § 13158). This is significant because it impacts how successors of decedents can manage a decedent’s real property. Specifically,…
Continue reading ›With rising rates keeping inventory and sales down, 2023 has seen a holding pattern for many real estate owners. Prices have held steady, but there has not been much movement in the market. That’s likely to change in a major way as we head into 2024. As the founder and president of Underwood Law Firm, a…
Continue reading ›In recent years, the growth of vacation rentals have driven the rise of purchasing investment properties in highly desirable areas throughout the country. For years, investment rentals were so profitable that many people jumped into the market and purchased properties to get a piece of the action. Unfortunately, in recent years, the sheer number of…
Continue reading ›Generally, an owner can never legally “abandon” title to property. (Gerhard v. Stephens (1968) 442 P.2d 692, 713.) Instead, abandonment can only be found in situations dealing with personal property. Yet when the property interests in real property are in the nature of incorporeal hereditaments, the California Supreme Court has found that those interests can…
Continue reading ›What is an Ouster (Civ. Code § 843)? An ouster occurs when one tenant wrongful dispossesses or excludes another cotenant or cotenants from the common property. (Zaslow v. Kroenert (1946) 29 Cal.2d 541, 548.) Regardless of whether individuals share property as joint tenants or tenants in common, the property rights of cotenants are usually the same…
Continue reading ›Generally, when obtaining representation for yourself and your property interests, you must make sure that your interests are indeed being protected and your wishes respected as much as legally possible. The moment it becomes clear that your attorney is not acting accordingly, it may be time to change your lawyer. What You Should Expect You…
Continue reading ›The California Partition Law begins at Code of Civil Procedure section 872.010 and ends at Code of Civil Procedure section 874.323. Section 872.250 outlines the procedure for a plaintiff seeking a partition of real property to record a lis pendens with the county office. A lis pendens gives notice to any future persons who may…
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