Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Copys of my husbands will

Give her a copy of the will, $27 and a copy of the cremation receipt. If the bike was sold, then it no longer exists and the son doesn't get anything. If the proceeds were used to pay for cremation, again no problem. There is nothing to worry about.

Re: Copys of my husbands will

First, if the ex-wife wasn't an heir, she doesn't have a right to demand a copy of the will. "Lodge" the original Will (the one your husband signed in ink, not a photocopy) with the probate court in the county where your husband lived. Tell the ex-wife that if she wants a copy, she can either go down to the probate court and get it herself or write to the court and get the copy.

Second, as Mr. Lemmons said, if an asset doesn't exist at the time of a person's death, you don't have to obtain another one just to satisfy the bequest. The same is true with money - if there's not enough money (or assets that can be sold for money) in the estate to satisfy a bequest, then the person doesn't get paid. Also, if your husband and you owned all of your assets as joint tenants (for example, most checking and savings accounts are joint tenancy accounts), you don't have to use that money to pay a bequest.

The daughter would only have the right to the $2500 if there were $2500 left in the estate AFTER payment of "priority" expenses (funeral expenses, unpaid tax liabilities, secured claims like mortgages and car loans, etc.) and AFTER payment of "unsecured" expenses like credit card bills, hospital bills, etc.

So tell the ex-wife to buzz off (in legalese).

And next time don't use a "will service" or a "document service" or a "paralegal" to prepare a legal document. As you've discovered, they aren't lawyers and sometimes being "penny wise" isn't worth it. If your husband had had a lawyer prepare a simple will for him, the lawyer probably would have charged less than $500 ... and if the lawyer had prepared the will incorrectly, you could have filed a claim against his/her malpractice carrier.

This information is not intended to substitute for professional legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. You should accept legal advice only from a licensed legal professional with whom you have an attorney-client relationship.