Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
notory public
My daughter removed our wealthy Mother from a convelescent home in order to win her favor to become the win fall to her money. Her will which she had prepared 1 year prior with a professional attorney was amended making her the heir to all of her home, jewels, vehicles etc. Leaving a very small amount to the 5 siblings such as 25,000.00 and 45,000.00 resulting in leaving her the balance of over 900,000.00 dollars along with the balance in insurance, stocks etc. When the notary notorized the will, my mothers signature was illegable and she did not sign the notary book at all. Instead, they copied her drivers license in it's place. We had a hard time getting this copy from the attorney that did this, in fact he out right lied to us and said that he did not do the will nor had any thing to do with my daughter and he obtained an attorney to represent himself for any further questions! Suspicious? We have the assets frozen by the judge, however my daughter has removed 200,000.00 during the 3 months that she cared for my Mother or I should say killed my Mother! My question is do you have to sign the notory book when signing for a will? If so, what are the consequences in the case of this fraudulent will being thrown out?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: notory public
In California, a will is typically witnessed, not notarized. It sounds as if there were a number of irregularities surrounding the drafting and signing of your mother's will.
If the will in question is not effective, then your mother's assets would be distributed in accordance with the terms of an earlier will, if she had one - if she did not have one, then according to the terms of intestate succession, which would likely mean to her children in equal parts, assuming she was not married at the time of her death.
Please feel free to be in touch with my office if you would like to discuss this further.
Re: notory public
this is more, much more than a notory question -- you need a good experienced estate planning/ probate attorney who may have to litigate for you and you need one now, yesterday and with as much paper work you can get your hands on --- i have been doing this kind of law for over 30 years in the bay area and would be happy to didcuss this with you - fell free to call me at 925-945-6000
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
