Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Is this a Probate or is this a Trust? Are you the sole beneficiary? Has the person passed away? If so, then you should be contacted by the Executor or attorney for the Estate, who is the best person to give you information. Generally, if this is a Probate, then you have to make sure creditor's claims are paid and tax returns filed before you can close the Estate. Fees are fixed by Statute in California and run about $23,000 for a $1m Estate. If $500k is the full estate then fees would be around $13,000.

You should probably hire an attorney to represent you as a beneficiary. That is to make sure everything is done properly. You can probably hire an attorney on an hourly basis. I would probably get an Indiana attorney. You might re-post on here using an Indiana zip code so that Indiana attorney's see it. Good luck.

If the estate is in Indiana, it is most likely being probated in Indiana, or should be probated in Indiana. You should repost in the category for Indiana lawyers to answer, not California.

Unless there is real property in California that is part of the estate, California attorneys are not qualified to answer your question, and even if there is, you would need someone knowledgable about both California and Indiana probate to fully answer your question, since California would require a separate probate for the California property.