Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Must a will be lodged
Grandmother died 10 yrs ago. Her son, my uncle, and the attorney did not lodge the will. My stepbrother just showed me a copy of the will in which he was given 1/4 of grandmother's estate, not property, but 1/4 of the remaining assets. Uncle and attorney never filed/lodged the will and no probate. Uncle in no way wanted any of his deceased sister's children to get any of Grandma's money. He put everything in a family trust for himself and his kids and verbally told my stepbrother he would get nothing. My question is...must a will, with assests over $100,000 be lodged? Why didn't the attorney lodge the will? After 10 years, can anything be done to get his share of the estate or is it too late now that Uncle put everything into a family trust for himself and his kids? In the will, my Grandmother specifically mentioned the people she didn't not want to leave anything to. I and my other five brothers were intentionally left with nothing, but the one brother should have at least gotten his share.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Must a will be lodged
there may also be liability on the part of your uncle and his attorney.
see: probate code sections 8200 to 8203 at
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/prob.html
Re: Must a will be lodged
A will should be lodged within 30 days of the date of death with the Superior Court of the county in which the decedent resided at the time of death. Probate can still be opened to probate the will, and the trust established by your uncle would likely be converted into a trust for the benefit of named beneficiaries.
It is never too late to open probate., when one was required.
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