Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Decedent Intestate / Determine Probate or Litigation
My brother died without a will. He
has a mortgage on a house and a
commercial building. He was just
awarded judgement of a long drawn
out legal battle but there was no writ
of execution and the defendant on
that case dissolved the corporation
responsible for the judgement. I am
concerned that individual will file a
petition against my brother's estate
and attempt to collect his legal fees,
etc. -- how can I determine if it is
worth it for me to hire an attorney to
handle all these matters? I cannot
afford to end up only with legal fees if
there will be no proceeds from assets.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Decedent Intestate / Determine Probate or Litigation
You're going to have to fly out here, assemble the various documents, and sit down with a CA lawyer in order to obtain an informed answer to your question as to whether your retaining an attorney and/or pursuing litigation will be worthwhile. At the very least you'll have to assemble the documents or have someone assemble them for you. You could start by looking up the case docket on the website of whatever county's court is involved. You'll need to determine if there are any other claimants to the estate: the fair market value of the properties; the amount owed on the properties; the status of the court case; the status of the corporation; the identity of its principals; and whether corporate assets were fraudulently transferred.