Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: ''aunt keeping secrets''

I am assuming that your aunt and your grandparents live(d) in California. If that's not true, none of what follows is going to be meaningful.

Upon the death(s) of your grandparents, the person(s) who had possession of their wills should have deposited the originals with the court clerk in the county where the decedent lived at the time that they passed away. The wills are a matter of public record and can be read and copied by anyone who cares to do so by going to the courthouse.

If your grandparents had a typical living trust setup, they will have had "pourover" wills which left all of their property to a trust. This is one way to find out if there is (or should be) a trust in place.

Another way to find out whether or not there is (or was) a trust is to look at the property records in the county where your grandparents lived - if they owned their home or other real property, the property should have been titled in the name of the trust, not in their personal names.

You have the right to ask to read or make a copy of your grandparents' trust. Your aunt may or may not be able to legally refuse. If you are not a beneficiary of the trust, you do not have a right to see it. If you are a beneficiary of the trust, you have a right to receive a complete copy of it, and a right to receive yearly accountings documenting how the trust's property and funds are being managed by the trustee(s).

It may be that your grandparents' trust left everything to your aunt, if she was living when they passed away. On the other hand, it may have made some other disposition. There's really no way to know without reading the trust.

The bottom line here is that you need to find out what the current situation is - you may be able to achieve that by friendly or cooperative means by talking to your aunt.

If you cannot get results that way, and you feel strongly about this or you believe that substantial assets may be at stake, you may want to hire someone to investigate for you. Your aunt may take the situation more seriously if she receives a letter or a telephone call from a lawyer.

My suggestion would be to hire a California attorney who is geographically close to or in the county where your grandparents lived, since that's where property and court records will be located, and that's where a court proceeding will be held if one is necessary.