Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

No Will found

My father died and I cannot find a will - if there is one to find. I am the only child and there is no spouse. There is a sister and brother. The estate other than the house is well under $50,000. How should I proceed?


Asked on 3/28/05, 2:42 am

6 Answers from Attorneys

Joel Selik www.SelikLaw.com

Re: No Will found

You may not need probate, depending on how the property was held. If you do, you can go by intestate succession (meaning-no will).

Joel

JOEL SELIK Attorney at Law

800-894-2889 760-479-1515 702-243-1930

www.SelikLaw.com

Licensed to Practice Law in California and Nevada Only CA Licensed Real Estate Broker

CONCENTRATING IN LITIGATION: REAL ESTATE, ELDER ABUSE, APPEALS, AND COLLECTIONS Personal Injury, Contracts, Tax Matters, Business, Malpractice, Appeals, Elder Neglect/Abuse/Nursing Home Malpractice Real Estate, and Other Legal Matters

This is just general information. No representations are made and no attorney client relationship is established by this communication. In most matters there are strict time limitations within which actions may be taken or your rights will be compromised. We are not taking any action on your matter and will not be considered your attorney or tax representative until both you and we have signed a fee agreement.

We, therefore will take no action on your behalf unless a written retainer agreement is signed. There are strict deadlines, called statutes of limitation, within which claims or lawsuits must be filed. Therefore, if you do not retain SELIKLAW, you should immediately seek the services of another attorney or other advisor.

If you send a lawyer or law firm email, your email will not create an attorney-client relationship and will not necessarily be treated as privileged or confidential. You should not send sensitive or confidential information via email. The lawyer or law firm to whom you are writing may not choose to accept you as a client. Moreover, as the Internet is not necessarily a secure environment it is possible that your email sent via the Internet might be intercepted and read by third parties.

Read more
Answered on 3/28/05, 8:58 am

Re: No Will found

The first step is to determined if you need to file a probate. The probate filing rules are the same if there is a will or if not. If assets in California are worth $100,000 or more (or real estate worth $20,000 or more) then a probate is required. A probate takes about 7 months start to finish so key is to file ASAP because the quicker you start it the quicker you can sell it. Plus, the quicker you start the probate the quicker you can get access to money, sell the house, etc.... If you can't find the will it's safe to assume there is not one and you can file the probate. If you are the only child then you would be the 100% beneficiary so it makes sense for you to file the probate to be Administrator of the estate. We do a large amount of probate work throughout northern California so please call if we can help. 916-920-5983 x405. -John Palley

Read more
Answered on 3/28/05, 10:17 am
Kai Wessels Kai H. Wessels

Re: No Will found

First, thank you for your question. As you may have learned, if your father�s estate is under $100,000 and there is no real property, then you can avoid probate. However, since you mention that the estate is under $50,000, "other than the house," it appears that the estate is well above all minimums. (I am making the assumption that the house is not held in joint tenancy.) Thus, you will have to commence probate regardless whether you find a will or not.

Thus, the best way to proceed is to retain counsel to assist you through the court probate process. If you are looking for an attorney in the San Jose area, please do not hesitate to contact me at (408) 268-2580.

Good luck.

Sincerely,

Kai H. Wessels, Esq.

(Due to the nature of the communications, this response is not intended to be legal advice, and should therefore not be relied upon as such.)

Read more
Answered on 3/28/05, 10:50 am
Chris Johnson Christopher B. Johnson, Attorney at Law

Re: No Will found

It sounds like you are the sole heir under California law, so you can proceed with probate, which would be required if the house is in your father's name alone (probate is required for estates larger than $100,000, and when real estate alone is worth more than $20,000).

Read more
Answered on 3/28/05, 12:00 pm
Ken Koenen Koenen & Tokunaga, P.C.

Re: No Will found

Chances are that, unless you are a joint tenant on the real estate with your father, you will need to petition the court to administer the estate through the probate process. Let me know if I can help. I do probate matters throughout the State of California.

Read more
Answered on 3/28/05, 12:51 pm
Scott Linden Scott H. Linden, Esq.

Re: No Will found

The process can be completed by you without the assistance of an attorney. Links for the necessary forms are available at http://www.No-Probate.com/Small_Estates.htm

You can learn more about the entire process through that site, www.No-Probate.com.

If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact me through there.

If you need additional links to CA governmental bodies, please visit www.CAStateLaw.com

Scott H. Linden

SCHOFIELD & GROSSMAN

www.No-Probate.com

Read more
Answered on 3/28/05, 2:37 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Probate, Trusts, Wills & Estates questions and answers in California