Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
probate
my father died w/o a will. his estate was probated, but discovery of assets was incomplete, and unknown property just surfaced. i just found several bank accounts he paid taxes on for the interest they accrued, that were absorbed by family members not heir to his estate. what legal remedy do i have to pursue my entitlement, i am both adminstrator and beneficiary. the family member who hid these accounts from me, somehow gained access and took them over. i have account numbers, names of the banks and tax documents proving ownership. the two banks involved have been out of business for a few years, how can i track down the account info? is their any search i can do using his ss#? the family member has been questioned since my father's death about this and she claims ''there was no money or any bank accounts'' that were to be his. until i found documents proving otherwise, i believed she was telling the truth. also, there's a title to a piece of real estate that he held jointly with her that she absorbed , in it's entirety, w/o acknowledging his entitlement to one-half ownership, by grant deeding it to herself through a revokable trust. his estate allowed for further discovery by including, ''and any asset yet to be known/discovered''
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: probate
Regarding the bank accounts, if the relative was named as beneficiary or was a joint account holder, it would be really tough for you to overcome. (Any evidence of fraud or undue influence?) You have an evidentiary problem with banks that are no longer around. You should see if another bank bought them out or merged with them. Banks keep records for 7 years, so you can subpoena the bank for accounts under your father's name and ss#, using the case number from the probate case.
If the relative was not a joint account holder or a beneficiary, how did the relative "absorb" the funds?
Regarding the real estate, if the relative and your father were joint tenants, upon your father's death, the relative owns the property 100%.
However, if the relative transferred his/her own interest to his/her own revocable trust before your dad died, then the relative severed the joint tenancy and now holds title with your father as tenants in common. This would mean that when your father passed away, 50% interest in the property goes to his estate and would be distributed to the heirs per the Omnibus Clause ("any assets yet to be known/discovered").
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