Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
My mother recently passed; there are eight children. Two of the eight are executors of the estate; however there is a significant amount of mistrust in the execution of her wishes. Five of the siblings signed a written request for a copy of the will & an accounting of her assets; this was met with vulgar language and threats. The five that requested copies have been told to contact our mother's lawyer, however, we have not been provided a name or any contact information. What steps can we take to avoid additional issues? We are hoping to avoid the hiring an attorney of our own as none of us are in a financial position to do so. Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
If you do not want to hire an attorney, you are going to have a difficult time dealing with this on your own. The trust should pay the legal costs, but it will depend on the terms of the trust and what has been done so far (if there has a been a breach of duty by the executors).
If beneficiaries have requested copies of the will and they have not provided it, then a Motion can be made to the Probate Court ordering the information. If there were total assets of over $100K, then there was a requirement to start a Probate hearing, unless there was also a trust in addition to a will.
You could, alternatively, ask again for the lawyer's contact information, but that does not sound like it is going to lead anywhere. Perhaps it is best to start with going to the local court (local to where your mother resided when she passed away) and search their probate records to find a case number, then go from there.
If you would like to discuss this matter further in a more private forum, please feel free to contact me directly at the email address provided by LawGuru or through my website located at PasadenaEstatePlanning.com
IMPORTANT:
No attorney-client nor confidential relationship is created through this communication. You may not rely in any way on this communication, and nothing herein constitutes legal advice nor legal opinion. Your issue may be time-sensitive and may result in a loss of rights if you do not obtain an attorney immediately.
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