Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: stocks not included in the will

You do not have to specifically list assets in the body of a will for them to be passed along pursuant to its terms. Most wills contain "catch all" clauses that provide for transfer of property not specifically identified.

The stock should be considered part of her estate unless it was held in a trust or in a "pay on death" asset account which designated a beneficiary other than her estate. If, for instance, the stock was held at Charles Schwab and it designated "brother Joe" as the beneficiary at death, then the stock would not go through probate and would be transferred directly to brother Joe. The same would happen if the stock had been put into a trust.

If there are beneficiaries, you will not lose some of it to the state but you will have to pay statutory probate fees based on the value of the estate. Therefore, the amount of your attorney's fee will be increased because the stock is in the estate.