Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Questionable Legality of Trust Revisions
Upon the passing of my mother-in-law several months ago, my brother-in-law took all her records from her home. Her trust was written in 1990. She divided her estate amongst her three children (excluding my BIL and allocating his third to his children). After the passing of my sister-in-law in 1993, my MIL revised her trust to allocate my SIL's third of the estate to my SIL's children. These revisions were handwritten on the document, and the document was notarized.
My MIL (or someone else?) made additional handwritten revisions, dated in 1997. These revisions deleted my BIL's children; added BIL in their place; and reduced my husband's 1/3 share of the estate by giving a portion to his son from a previous marriage. These latter ''revisions'' were not notarized, and the handwriting is questionable. Are the unnotarized, handwritten notes in the margins and amongst the typewritten text legal? Bearing in mind that my brother-in-law took this document from my mother-in-law's house without her consent, had the document in his possession for several days, and gave the document to the executor of the estate, is the document legal? Also, how can we obtain a copy of the entire document?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Questionable Legality of Trust Revisions
The handwritten information will probably not be accepted as being a part of the trust.
Who prepared the trust in the first place. That is where you should start to get a copy of the original trust.
Re: Questionable Legality of Trust Revisions
The handwritten parts are probably not valid--the trust itself probably has the required procedure for amendments. The successor trustee has the duty to send notice to the trust beneficiaries and heirs, a part of which is a form allowing them to request a copy of the trust. If the trustee does not respond to you or hasn't sent notice, you may need an attorney to make the request and get the administration of the trust moving.
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