Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

The nominated executor is required by statute (if your father was a CA resident) to 1) lodge the will with the Clerk of Court in the county where your father resided (where it is public record and you can get a copy) and 2) if the estate if over $100,000, to file a Petition for Probate, and to mail Notice of such to all heirs.

You have an absolute right to see the entire Will. He also has to provide at least once a year a detailed statement of what assets are in the estate, the estimated value of each of the assets, an accounting of what cash their is, and what money has been spent. Tell him if he does not do so, giving you an entire copy of the Will within 5 business days and the rest within 3 weeks, you will file for probate [if assets greater than $100,000] and will ask that you be appointed administrator of the Will since he is clearly not capable to handle the matter in an objective fashion. If that does not get him to co-operate, then you might need to hire an attorney to write a letter telling him what will happen if he does not comply. I do that type of work at $100 per hour and with speaking to you it might take about 2 hours.

Good luck.