Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

you will need to contact the local DMV and take in the pink slip and what is called an Affidavit of Right after 05/21/2011,. which you can get from local stationary store. It needs to be notarized. Contact the retirement company and see if they will also accept an Affidavit.

DMV has a pretty painless process for this. As long as you and your Sister are in agreement as to what happens, it is easy. Did she own the car outright? It is new enough there are likely payments due on it. There will be a lien on the car so it cannot be sold until the lien is paid. As to credit card debt, neither of you is personally responsible for it but her estate is. Any money needs to go to creditors first before being paid to beneficiaries. Sister may have a creditors claim for care but as a family member maybe not. Do you mean Social Security or a pension? Keep in mind social security will go back into an account and pull out money for a month she did not fully survive. If it is a private pension, you can ask them what their process is to do this. It has happened before. Sorry about your loss; it is hard to lose a parent.