Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

My husband passed away 9-7-10 The following is taken from a handwritten letter he wrote to a friend of his back in 2004. "When my father was sick and dieing with cancer, he asked me to take care of mom and make sure that she was secure for the future. I gave him my word that she would not be deprived of anything she needed. So when my mom started to date Manual, I tried to get along with him as best I could. Unfortunately we had a shaky start because he thought that everything my dad had was his. He did not even stop to think about what was left to me by my dad. Inevitably, the issue of the property that LouJak was on came up. I knew this was supposed to go to me but Manual decided that I didnt own the property just my mom and himself were the owners. What caught me offguard was the plea by my mom made to me. She asked that I say nothing more about the property but keep my mouth shut and let him think what he wanted..." theres more ofcourse. As of 2004 the letter states the loss of $1,000,000 in rent revenue. Last year she acknoweledged that my husband was the owner in front of relatives. Can I sue her for the property ? She was writing checks every week to my husband to keep his mouth shut but since his death has completely cut me out of any assets my husband was entitled to.She is worth at least $30 million I have copies of documents that have been forged by her, and she has illegally manipulated trust funds my husbands dad had left to him and his sister.


Asked on 10/25/10, 2:47 pm

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

I am sorry for the death of your husband. What needs to be done is to determine who actually is the owner of the property. Her stating it was your husband's and even her paying him hush money does not legally make it so. Even if he is the legal owner, she may have gained an easement or some other right against the property.

I assume you have started the probate process for your husband as he seems to have had more than $100,000 in asets so must go through probate. The person appointed administrator by the court will go into the issue of who owns the land, but you should watch over them very carefully since they may not do the best job in making that determination and also finding out how much back rent is owed. It wil help you to read some of the books available on probate, such as the Nolo Press ones, so that you know what should be done. You can ask the court to be appointed the administrator and then hire at the estate's expense [which is really yours] hire an attorney to find out about the property [but it is much cheaper to have someone else do as much work on that issue as possible].

Good luck.

[not proof read]

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Answered on 10/30/10, 4:55 pm


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