Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Mother died-Probate or not

It depends on the size of all of these assets. If the total of these assets is over 100,000 dollars in value, then yes you would need to probate it. From what you have described, and the fact that she was on Medical, my guess is that she did not have enough assets to require probate. I believe there are some special rules on railroad retirement money, but this crops up so rarely that I am frankly not farmiliar with them off the top of my head (hopefully someone else can speak to this). If the railroad rules do not change the situation, and her assets are under 100,000 dollars, you probably can get away with filing a petition for summary probate in the county who holds jurisdiction over your Mom's estate. You can most likely do this on your own, without the assistance of an attorney, I would contact the local probate court and ask them what you need to fill out. It will take about 30 days and require very little in the way of time or money on your behalf.

Hope this helps.

Re: Mother died-Probate or not

No probate should be required in California, if you are the sole heir. You should be able to access the funds in the credit union account with an affidavit. Ask the credit union, they may have the required form. The annuity, is, I assume payable to you as beneficiary if your mother dies? Otherwise this too should be able to be handled by affidavit.