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Sale of real property which is beneficiary's primary residence by other beneficiary who is trustee?
Anonymous2 views4 answers
Equal beneficiary children inherit residence of decedent pursuant to revocable trust. One beneficiary is trustee and the other has been living in the residence as their primary residence in the position of caregiver to decedent for at least a decade.
That (non-trustee) beneficiary is of extremely limited means and has also inherited large amount of furnishings in addition to their own substantial belongings.
Beneficiaries are basically in agreement to sell residence and split proceeds but what is a reasonable amount of time for the beneficiary who is occupying to vacate? What would be a maximum amount of time? It would be a major undertaking both physically and financially.
Reasonable is what you both agree--there is some vague statutory guidance and the trust itself may have some but in the end, what is "reasonable" is what will work for both of you and put it in writing--and include some mechanism that the one moving begins to pay market rent after a certain period--something like that.
The best advice is to see an attorney in your area to draft an agreement between the parties as California may have very specific laws governing this situation. I just offer a comment on what I would do.
What does the trust instrument say regarding notice?
It would be up to the trustee beneficiary to determine the amount of time and to then give written notice to the occupant beneficiary as to the amount of time to vacate.
It will obviously be easier to market the property after the property is vacant.
There is no specific rule or rule of thumb. To preserve harmony and minimize cost, it is always beat to work this out by collaboration if you can. I would recommend a consultation with an attorney to help you weigh and balance all factors.
You have a little bit of a different issue not being addressed. While you have some rights as an occupant under real estate law, you need to be careful of trust law.
While your mother was alive you were living in the house rent free. That is okay because you were her caregiver as well living there at her choice. Now that she is deceased, your right to occupy the residence rent free is not there. Absent direction in the Trust or some agreement with your mother that you can prove regarding rent free occupancy in exchange for your services, your sister could charge your share of the trust with rent.
You need to consult a local attorney and present them with all the facts. You also have to be careful if there is a no contest clause in the Trust because your actions could create problems. If there the Trust does not have an no contest provisions, you may want to consider making a claim against the trust for the value of your services to your mother. Your sister wont like it but it may provide you with some leverage to get more time to move out.
All that said, I highly encourage you to keep the dialogue open with your sister and not have this escalate. Siblings fights are expensive.
I also encourage you to seek legal counsel.
