Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
(Honest, panicked, and impassioned sob story omitted here)
We KNOW that a trust document naming me was created, however NO ONE seems to have a copy. I have her will naming me as sole executor, but the trust document was not written into the will. The attorney who created mum's will has been dead for several years and while his son has been kind enough to look through all the paperwork that he could find, he was unable even to find a blank trust form in my mum's files. Her accountant and financial adviser likewise do not have a copy of the trust document. The brokers who have control of mum's annuity, who also claim not to have a copy of the trust document, tell us that we MUST have an estate account number, but there is no estate account because we are not going through probate, as all was set up intentionally as a small estate held in trust. (We are in San Francisco, California, and the estate totals less than $150K.)
I have been told that my ONLY option without the trust document (not including probate, which is out of the question) is to wait until 40 days after the death of my mum (March 28th, 2013) and then submit to the banks and brokerage the appropriately signed and notarized small estate affidavit (and death certificate), and wait for them to send me the checks... though the brokerage firm insists that it is "not their policy" to release any funds without the non-existent estate account number, something I would guess is counter to the laws of California, neh?
First (remember the sob story, O' Best Beloved) is there ANYTHING I can do speed the process from 40 days to something rather more immediate? (Among the requirements of the will is that some of the estate be paid out to an organization of mum's choosing within -30- days, and if I do not have said monies it will not be possible to uphold that which I understand to be my legal duty. I won't even mention my rent here.)
Second, do I have any recourse - preferably Swift Recourse - in the event that the brokerage firm attempts to work with their "policy" rather than with what I understand to be California law?
Third, if I gave no option other than to wait the 40 days (while continuing to hunt for the missing trust document) and then submit the appropriate documents to bank and brokerage, how long is it likely that I'll need to wait for the monies in question to be sent to me - and is there any way to speed that process?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You are advised to seek probate legal counsel to assist you to file a petition to probate with will annexed, appointing you as the executor and confirming you are the sole beneficiary to the estate based on a small estate affidavit, so as to obtain the necessary court order certified for the brokerage houses to honor your estate entitlements; the filing of the petition cannot take place any sooner than 40 days, as required by the probate code. A certified copy of death certificate will need to be attached to the affidavit; the affidavit will recite the list of assets, among other items setting forth the facts.
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