Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
my 29 yr old son recently passed away. he was unmarried and has no children. he had a retirement account and I am the beneficiary. He owned a home but the value was less than the loan so he has no other assets. do i need to go through probate? am i entitled to the retirement account? it would be useful to cover expenses..it's only worth about 16k ..we found no will. thank you
1 Answer from Attorneys
This is terrible. I am so sorry to read about your son's passing. I am afraid that his estate will probably need to go through Probate. Unfortunately, the Court does not account for money owed on real property, only the value of it at the time of passing. Since most real property has a value of over $100,000, it requires a Probate.
Since, as you state, there was no will, under intestate succession (meaning no will) his estate passes first to his parents. However, since the retirement account names you as a beneficiary, this should pass to you outside of Probate.
It may be best for you to sit down for a consultation to go over all of his assets one by one.
If you would like to discuss this matter further in a more private forum, please feel free to contact me directly at the email address provided by LawGuru or through our firm�s website located at PasadenaEstatePlanning.com
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