Selling a house held by a trust

March 12, 2017 2:46 PM

Father-in-law wants to sell his house. He cannot currently locate the deed. That shouldn't be too big a problem. What is a problem is that the house is held by a trust. FIL is the executor of the said trust. However, he doesn't have any of those documents either. And the law firm that set up the trust no longer exists. Where does he go from here? This is in California.

The law firm closed up shop several years ago. Before doing so they offerred to send out any requested documents. FIL requested the trust documents but never received them.

posted by ericales to Law & Government (11 answers total)

I had to get a copy of the deed to a house I co-owned with my ex during our divorce proceedings. I just walked into the county office (tax assessor, I think?) and paid for a copy of it. Also in California.

They didn't ask me to prove that I owned the house or even had anything to do with the house. I think deeds are public record in California.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:55 PM on March 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

I had the same experience in West Virginia. The deed of record is the official record. Nothing else.
posted by JayRwv at 3:18 PM on March 12, 2017

Response by poster: But if the deed lists the trust as the owner won't that pose a problem?
posted by ericales at 3:23 PM on March 12, 2017

Did your FIL ever interact with a bank or insurance firm or other entity as the executor of the trust? If so, those agencies surely asked for a copy of the trust documents and would have them on file.
posted by erst at 3:31 PM on March 12, 2017

An attorney can track down the trust. I have seen attorneys call widows in other states to find out where all of their late husband's documents went.

Additionally, an attorney can find out if the trust is filed with the court/county.
posted by tippy at 3:36 PM on March 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yes, you will need the trust documents. There will be rules which governed the closing of the law firm, which include what to do about matters which are not concluded--such as the administration of an on-going trust. Another attorney can help track down the trust documents, but as mentioned above, a bank or insurance firm or any other entity which interacted with the trust is the best place to start.

If the law firm has only been out of business for a few years and you remember the name of a particular attorney you worked with, you can look that attorney up with the California bar and ask them for guidance on tracking down the trust documents.
posted by crush-onastick at 3:52 PM on March 12, 2017

Best answer: You need to hire an attorney. Honestly though I'd probably go to the county office first to make sure the property wasn't just in his name, since sometimes things don't get put through that are supposed to. Also if the trust is something like "Father-in-Law's-Name Trust" it may be easy to get the document.
posted by Toddles at 4:26 PM on March 12, 2017 [2 favorites]

You need an attorney.
posted by bluesky78987 at 6:51 PM on March 12, 2017

Response by poster: A search of the (surprisingly complete and easy to search) county recorders website indicates that the info I'm looking for should be easily available. Hopefully this will be as easy as it seems and not as difficult as I feared. Thanks all!
posted by ericales at 6:57 PM on March 12, 2017

P.S. If you continue to have trouble, your dad should track down the attorney he worked with at the closed firm. Failing to provide requested documents under those circumstances probably constitutes malpractice, so the attorney should be motivated to assist him.
posted by praemunire at 8:42 PM on March 12, 2017

Also, depending on your local state/county laws, the trust documents may have been filed in the same office as the deed -- "miscellaneous" records at the county often include trust-establishing documents.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:00 AM on March 14, 2017