Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

My mother has passed away and I have been placed as her executor in her will and trust. Everything seemed to be in order until we found out that her sole account does not have a beneficiary listed, not even the TRUST. The bank told me that in order to get to her account and act on her behalf as she wished, I'd need a court order, or in other words PROBATE. I guess that's the only way to get the court order.

My question is this,,,will the court focus on just the one bank account that has no beneficiary, or will it proceed to also give orders and ask for appraisals of other assets, such as her Condo, jewelry, car...? Will the courts recognize that all of these items are listed and protected by the Revocable Trust?


Asked on 4/02/10, 1:29 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ken Koenen, LLM Law Office of Ken Koenen

I am sorry to hear about your mother. If the other items were actually properly transferred to the trust, then they would be outside of probate. For example, many people think that if they own something like a condo, they can just list it in the trust and it is automatically in the trust. That is not the case. She should have deeded it to herselp as the trustee of the trust. If she did not do that, there is a legal proceedure that can be filed to get an order that the real estate is in the trust.

Now, as for the bank account, it may depend on how much is in the account and how many other assets are outside the trust in order to determine if you need to open probate at all. There could be other alternatives.

Read more
Answered on 4/07/10, 4:09 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Probate, Trusts, Wills & Estates questions and answers in California