Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Unless the house is of very little value, he is going to have to do a full probate. It's unfortunate that she did not make any kind of estate plan. Transferring the house into a trust or even just making a will would have greatly simplified things. With living issue, there is also an additional level of complexity, since even if they do not want any of her property, by the law they are entitled to some. So they will have to waive their claims. All of which is kind of a long way to say that your brother really just has to bite the bullet and hire a probate attorney for this one. If it's as simple as you describe, it shouldn't cost very much in the greater scheme of things. Certainly cheaper than trying to go it alone, screwing something up, and having to hire an attorney then.

Your brother-in-law should hire an attorney to help him Probate the Estate. Without a Will the Estate is shared by the surviving spouse and any children.

It also sounds like there will be a Medi-Cal lien against the Estate although Medi-Cal will defer collection until the surviving spouse dies.

As she died without a will, her husband inherits all of the community property and (since there's more than one child) one-third of the separate property. Her children inherit the other two-thirds of the separate property.

The big issue is what's community property and what's separate property. She owns a home in her name alone, but that doesn't mean the home is 100% separate property. If she used community property funds (such as her paycheck while married) to pay the mortgage, then at least a portion of the home is community property despite it all being in her name alone. This can be a big bone of contention between the husband and children if they don't agree, which could lead to litigation and a battle of forensic accounting.