Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

My wife died without a will, owned a condo-no mortgage (in California) and had some
credit card debt. The property has not been probated (waiting for the value to
increase to pre-recession levels) and a creditor is treatening to have the estate
sold to satisfy the debt of less than $9000.00. What should I (the widowed-residing
spouse) do?

Asked on 10/14/09, 9:19 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Scott Linden Scott H. Linden, Esq.

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I am sorry to hear of your wife's passing, I hope you are holding up well. In referene to your question...as the surviving spouse, you do not need to go through Probate (whoever told you that you do is trying to make unnecessary fees from you), the property can be transferred to your ownership right now. You will need to deal with the creditor in the settling of her estate, but often these people will accept pennies on the dollar from people in your exact situation.

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Answered on 10/14/09, 2:23 pm

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