Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Can Fathers wife keep everything?
My mother and father were married for 25 years, there are 3 children. My father re-married, his new wife had a son from a previous marriage. They were married for about 30 years before he passed away. During their marriage his wife forbid most contact with his other children. I am the youngest of those 3 and was only 11 when my parents divorced, I am now 48. We have no idea if he had a will or trust of any kind, in fact we only found out he passed away by accident, it's been a few years now. How do we find out if we are intitled to any of his estate, I believe at the time of his death it was worth well over a million. He was in San Diego County California, I have no idea how to get ahold of his wife or her son. Thank you in advance for any advice.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Can Fathers wife keep everything?
Check the County Court web site for probate cases; if you can not look it up by your father's name then you will have to go to the county court house and look up the probate records there. The file may be in storage but they will tell you when it comes in. The file will have his Will in it, if he prepared one. He might have put all or most of his property into a trust, which would not be on file with the court. If he went along with her in not keeping in touch with his three prior children then he probably also gave all of his assets to the second wife who will give them to her son. That is perfectly legal to do. If your father had really wanted to keep in touch he would have.
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