Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
petition for final distribution
My sister is the executor of my father's will. She and I are the only beneficiaries. We have been going thru the probate process. She received the letters from the Court to act as executor with full authority in April 2008. We have since completed and submitted all the appraisal paperwork and are coming up on the 1 year mark where the Court wants a status update. What does this paperwork entail? Also, my sister and I agreed to share all the expenses on the property in the estate, taxes etc so she went ahead and distributed the cash and stocks and other requests per the will last december. We didn't notify the court. Was this a mistake. Can I submit it now? If we decide to file a petition for final distribution, how do i let the court know that some of the assets were already distributed. I am totally confused as to whether this was a mistake and whether it can be rectified. Please help.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: petition for final distribution
The status update would give the court some detail regarding what has happened in the estate and when it's ready to be closed.
It is a violation to distribute the assets without a court order to do so, but it does happen--you can show the court what was distributed, along with a consent and waiver from both of you, and a petition for distribution of the rest of the assets. As you are the only beneficiaries who would be affected by the distribution, the court would likely view it as a "no harm, no foul" situation.
You'll want to get something filed in the right format, though, as courts often set "Order to Show Cause" hearings with subpoenas to appear if nothing's filed before the one-year deadline.
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