Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

we are up against a time constraint!! My Husband Alvaro's father died in 2002. He was not married at that time. Alvaro is the oldest of four children ( all whom are consenting adults ). His girlfriend left him alone to die, ( they share no children, all of my husbands father's children are from my husbands mother) she had fled to Mexico ( we were not aware of this until after the funeral).At the time of his father's death his father was living with his girlfriend, who after the death (right before the funeral) had my husband and his siblings sign over ( with a notarized paper in which we were never given a copy of) one house and one truck, as far as we know. The girlfriend was never honest or straightforward about his father's estate, ( she was very vague) she always said that this was all his father had as far as she knew. Now this girlfriend resides in Vegas with another male ( whom she is possibly married to, and was married to while she was with Alvaro's father) and she "Maria Sifuentes" is having a lawyer call and threaten us that my husband needs to sign a paper (she refused to disclose what signing this additional paper will entail) giving her all of his father's estate or they will court order Alvaro to appear to court. This is after that fact that he signed (along with his other siblings) the notarized paper post his father's death that no one received a copy of. The lawyer refuses to say what this "new" paperwork is for, and my husband does NOT want to sign it. Two of his other siblings did however sign the " new" paper. We are curious why this paper came to be, what it is for, and why after all of this time she is so ADAMENT that we sign it, and why any lawyer in his/her right mind would pursue it? At this time we would like to REVERSE everything and have her /"Maria" get ZERO if possible due to the knowledge we have collected since my father-in-laws death.

We DO NOT know the following:

What we can do

Was Maria married when she was with my father in law, or would common law marriage rule in this case being that she was with his father for several years but never legally married??

What the California laws or statue of limitations are

if anyone ever filed Alvaro's father's death certificate

if his father owns any other property besides the house that (remains open in paper due to his cousin inhabiting it)

If we can reverse the notarized paper that Alvaro signed due to mental duress at the time

how to/if it's even possible put Alvaro's name on the estate of his father

etc.

if his father has an insurance policy or a will/ bank accounts etc.

We KNOW/HAVE the following:

We have Alvaro's father's original social security card

We have his full name and marriage license from when he was married to Alvaro's mother ( but no longer is)

We know his father used a bank but we don't know how to gain access

We know that the name of Alvaro's cousins house is still in Alvaro's father's name

We need to retain a laywer as soon as possible to investigate all of this information. And guide us through the process/ proper avenues so his father can rest in peace. His father called him right before he died and verbally told him that he wanted him/ Alvaro to have everything. His father knew he was dying for at least a year prior to his death but his English was a barrier in completing the proper channels to prevent this.

Alvaro and I had just had our child and we had just bought a home and were unable to fulfill his last wish of dropping everything and coming down to assist, besides we thought we had at least another year or so prior to his father dying. It was extremely heartbreaking and emotional for everyone involved. We have two young children at present, one of which we named after my husband's father.

Please let us know what our options are asap!!

2 Answers from Attorneys

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