Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
a death in the family
our aunt just passed away, she was never married, had no children, mom and dad both deceased, all brothers and sisters are deceased, there are six nieces, they have all agreed to the one niece being the executor to her estate- verbally. our aunt lived in california, we all live in oregon, before the niece that we want to be the executor goes all the way down there to take care of things is there a document the other 5 nieces needs to sign for her to take to a california court to establish executor to our aunts estate and my understanding is she needs to have a letter of testimentary and a death certificate to access any bank accounts, 401k, life insurance policy, and we are also trying to see if she had a safety deposit box to make sure she had no will, how do we do that with out an executor with proper paper work.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: a death in the family
The niece will need to be appointed executor (and obtain letters of administration) before she can obtain access to the safe deposit box.
Since all of the heirs are in agreement, the probate should go smoothly. I would strongly suggest that the one niece who has agreed to be executor contact a CA Probate Attorney. My office hanldes matters throughout the State of CA and I would be happy to speak with her.
Re: a death in the family
I suggest the one niece hire a probate attorney. There are a lot of pitfalls that can derail a probate. An experienced probate attorney, like myself, can help keep the probate on track. To directly answer your question I would probably draft documents whereby each niece/nephew approves the other niece to be Administrator of the estate, without the requirement of bond and with full authority under the independent administration of estates act. Please have the niece contact me if she wants help with the probate. -John
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