Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
My husband passed away recently while we were seperated, his daughter said that her dad notarized his Will along with signing over to her the title to his Motorcycle, boat and car 5 days before he passed from brain cancer . She stated that according to his Will that she is Executor of, she is to sell my car that is in her father's name and split the money with her sibling, even though it was purchased for me by the both of us, . She has not lodged the Will with the County that he passed in, has not shown the Will to my son (her stepbrother), and has attempted to steal my car on numerous occasions. It is becoming a pain to always make sure my car is secure and very stressful. Her father and I have been married for 20 years and remained friends, it is very hard for me to belive he would have put that in a Will but if he did I don't put the blame on him since he had a horrible brain cancer that changed his thinking especially during the last 6 monthes. What can I do about stopping her legally so that she knows that she is not entitled to my car. She even passed by my house several times in the past month with some of her male friends, not sure what that was about. I would like to be able to file court papers myself. She has sold everything and has not even paid the funeral expenses that her grandparents had paid for and they are on a fixed income. I can't get a hold of her since she disconnected her cell phone, she only has a P.O. Box, deleted her Facebook account and I only know the City where she lives with friends. If you can offer some advice on what to file by myself, not only regarding my car but for her to pay the funeral expenses to his parents. Thanks so much
3 Answers from Attorneys
If your husband lived in Califorrnia at the time of his death, then a notarized will is not necessarily valid. In addition, unless you had formally divided your community property in a separation proceeding, you have community property rights in the assets you acquired during marriage. You could start a probate proceeding as the wife of your husband and this would force your daughter to produce the will if she is named as the executor.
Yikes. I would first get a certified copy of the death certificate and then fill out the necessary DMV paperwork to get title to the car in my name alone. I would then start looking for his social security number and see if any benefits as surviving spouse were payable to me.
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