Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

If the house is held in trust, then your wife is the surviving trustee of an irrevocable trust, and needs to comply with the terms of the trust. There are other things that she needs to do as well, such as dealing with tax issues and notice to the beneficiaries. I strongly advise you to get legal advice from a competent probate and trust attorney and not advice from a real estate agent or someone working at a title company.

It largely depends on the form of title. Anyone advising you will need to see the title documents. If title is in the name of the decedent as trustee of the trust, it may be necessary to file an affidavit of sucession of trustee to have the sale deed signed by the new trustees. This is a normal process and is often done in such circumstances. Usually the sale of the residence after death will have a basis adjustment to fair market value at death. This would reduce your taxable gain. You should engage an effective tax and estate advisor to help.

Mr. Christian gives a very good answer. If the property really is properly in the trust, title will be held as "Mothers Name" trustee of the "Name of Trust." The successor trustees will simply need to sign an affidavit of successor trustees to be recorded with the deed when the sale closes. He is also right, however, that there are lots of other issues and a few hours of attorney time, which can be paid for out of the trust, will be money well spent making sure everything is done right.