Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: cancelation of sale

It doesn't sound as if escrow has closed yet. When escrow closes, the title passes and the old loan is paid off. Call me with more details.

Re: cancelation of sale

If escrow closed, title has been transferred. The buyer is entitled to the property anyway. Sorry.

Re: cancelation of sale

I gave you a quick answer yesterday, and want to expand on it. As I said, escrow closes when the title is transferred and a new loan has paid off the old loan (unless there was seller financing). If your mother was merely in the process of selling the house (signed a contract to sell, but had not closed escrow yet) then a lot of new possibilities crop up. If your mother had a trust, then the successor trustee would need to sign final papers transferring title. If she only had a will, or no will, then her estate must go through probate. In either case, I would need more facts to give you any firm advice.

Re: cancelation of sale

It is really quite unlikely that escrow closed without change of title, although "escrow" is a sufficiently broad term to encompass situations where title would not change, or perhaps where the fact of change of legal ownership would not be recorded.

An additional problem you face is that equitable title (as distinguished from legal title) transfers upon execution of the contract of sale. When a deed to property to be sold is placed in escrow and the seller dies before the happening of the event or performance of the escrow conditions the legal title descends to the heirs of the seller, subject to the purchaser's equitable interest.

The buyer is in a position to demand (in court) completion of the transaction by the heirs' transfer of the legal title. Such an action could, I believe, be brought as a claim in the probate proceeding if the will is subject to probate. Otherwise, the buyer can sue the heirs for specific performance of the contract of sale.

In addition, the heirs (not necessarily you) have a right to be paid the purchase price by the buyer, and can sue to enforce that right, but the heirs' claim to the real property itself is very doubtful at this stage of the game.

Overall, the best bet might be to negotiate with the buyer, keeping in mind the legal and equitable posture of the parties and the possibility that the probate court has jurisdiction and that a deal to set aside the sale, if reached, would have to be approved in court.

The answer would be somewhat different if the real property were held in a trust. There are many facts missing here, including whether money has changed hands.