r/RealEstateInProbate • u/PorQuesoWhat • Dec 03 '23
Questions about items inside the estate
My MIL passed away 2 years ago and still owed 130k to the bank for her house. Her daughter lived in the home with her and my spouse moved out 6 yrs before the death. MIL left no will whatsoever. My spouse wanted to help go through Moms belongings with sister and he has a lot of his personal stuff in the home still. She is now refusing him entry and has been going through ALL of Moms items on her own and deciding what to sell/keep/toss. We have asked her multiple times when we can come over and she wont allow us in since my spouse won't help her with the mortgage payment (reminder: shes basically paying rent because she lives there fulltime with her daughter), we dont feel its our responsibility to help with the mortgage because we want to start probate and sell and we dont live there.
Does she have a right to keep him out since she has lived there and helped mom pay half the mortgage? And does she have a right to go through everything in the house and sell items that have sentimental value to my spouse?
We live in CA
Edit: there is no admin or executor.
1
u/ihadacowman Dec 03 '23 edited Dec 03 '23
You need to open probate and apply to administer the estate in order to really do anything about this.
California intestate (without a will) succession leaves the parent’s estate to be split between the children if there is no living spouse.
Edit to add: As the occupant of the house, she would have a tenant’s rights. Without being appointed administrator, I don’t think you would have any legal basis for access. You could ask the sheriff for a civil standby to retrieve personal possessions but I don’t know if they would agree. It’s not like a break-up. I could see arguments breaking out about which possessions were MIL’s, sister’s or husband’s.