Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

spouse dies, no will

husband of 25 yrs passed away 3 months ago. His checking account , which is in his name only, holds a minimal amount of money, but is money we always used & need for living expenses such as rent... food.. etc.. Bank tells me I have no rights to his account unless I had POA , which makes no sense to me, since POA terminates upon Death or so am I wrong about that. There is not enough money to hire a lawyer, & obviously, not enough for probate. I am desperate since I am behind now with rent & utilities & really need that money to help catch up . What can I do?


Asked on 3/04/07, 3:20 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Donald Field Donald L. Field, Jr., Attorney at Law

Re: spouse dies, no will

see PROBATE CODE SECTIONS 13100 through 13116 at:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=prob&codebody=&hits=20

a sample form is available at the la superior court website:

http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/probate/pdf/TransferForm.pdf

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Answered on 3/04/07, 1:35 pm
Chris Johnson Christopher B. Johnson, Attorney at Law

Re: spouse dies, no will

Use the form contained in Probate Code section 13100--it just needs notarization. Where all the assets are less than $100,000, it's all that's needed to transfer it/them to you.

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Answered on 3/05/07, 6:24 pm


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