Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

I am sorry for your loss. This is a pretty simple situation, potentially, depending on a couple things. First, if the total assets omitted from the trust is less than $150k then you can just do a California small estate affidavit. This is a very simple thing that you can do without the aid of an attorney. You would look for a California small estate affidavit form on the internet, have the money paid to the trust and then distribute with the other trust assets. If greater than $150k then you either need to do a Heggstad petition or a full probate. Based on the facts I would look at a Heggstad first. My website, heggstadpetition.com, has more info or just email or call me and we can discuss. This is generally a much less costly option than a full probate and is always significantly quicker than a full probate. The last option, if the facts don't work for a Heggstad, would be a full probate. We generally try to avoid probate and leave it as the last option. I hope this helps. We do Heggstads throughout the state and would be happy to chat with you Monday morning if you contact me. -John

P.S. Irregardless of the above you may want an attorney to represent you as trustee for the trust administration duties. That's a separate issue but one that shouldn't be ignored as there are things to do from a legal standpoint.