Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

If the account was truely a joint account, and not titled in the name of the trust, the entire account would have passed to your wife's father upon the mother's death. Once the surviving joint tenant (your wife's father) passed away, such accounts are often POD (paid on death) accounts where a beneficiary is specifically named. In that case, the account's funds would go to the named beneficiary outside of the trust. If there is no named individual beneficiary, the funds could be distributed through the trust if: 1. the account was actually a trust asset; 2. the trust was the beneficiary of the account; or, 3. no beneficiary was named for the account. In this (#3) case, the funds would become part of the trust by virtue of the parent's pour over will.

If the account is to pass to the trustee by the pour-over will, some form of probate may be required, unless the value of the account at second death was $100,000 or less. In that case a Probate Code Sections 13100-13115 can be used.