Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

A friend of mine is has problem: In 2004 her mother passed away ad left no will that is intestament, her eldest sister filed a petition in Probate Court to be Administrator of the of the Estate; The Court Granted her request- She was Orderd by the Court to disperse the remaining proceeds of the Estate of the deceased 25% four (04) ways (there are (04) remaining survving heirs, children).

There are several crucial questions: She feels (my friend) that her sister who is Administrator of the Estate failed to properly disperse equally the entirety of the proceeds of the estate fairly and retained as such to to her own benefits (less then the Cour-Ordered designated amount of proceeds.

Also the Statute of limitatations, does it have any application here with respect to to the unusual nature here of the Matter?

And is this Matter an issue for Probate Court even it is Post-Or is an issue for Civil Court? Any advice will be appreciated, thanks Vincent Elias


Asked on 3/30/10, 10:49 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

Asuming that the court approval of the distribution was many years ago, it very likely is too late to attack the Court approval of the distribution. Why did she not speak up sooner? If there was some key information that she could not reasonably know about until the last year or so, she milght still be able to sue, probably in probate court, and ague that the sister holds the excess property in trust for the rightful owners. Before suing, she should sit down with her sister and a neutral party to find out if there was an uneven split.

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Answered on 4/05/10, 3:52 pm


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