California Estate Planning Legal Questions

Line #3 needs to be re-posted as it makes no sense. Tell you mother what is going on. If your mother is mentally competent [you may need a note from her Dr. saying that at the time she signs a new Will] have her prepare a new Will naming you executor [trustee is only for Trusts]. If you want to be nasty, tell the DMV your father is dead and then they will not send her the vehicle registration. To lawfully change title for a car or real estate owned by a deceased, probate must be filed.... Read More

He should demand to see a copy of the POA to see what it covers, as it may not say anything about who can visit. If the sister is not there all the time and she has not instructed the nurses to ban him, he can just go and see her [he probably can just walk past the nurses station without them saying anything]. If that does not work, he should contact the hospital administrator and see if something can be worked out [they can ask his mother what she wants done, as the POA can only be exercised if the mother is unable to make a decision on her own]. Any POA can only be exercised to the extent the person can not physically or mentally do so on their own and can not be contrary to what the person would have wanted to be done. All POAs disappear once the person dies and the person can revoke the power orally at any time.... Read More

An executor is the person named in the Will to handle the estate but except as to emergency situation has no real power; the Will has to be filed for probate and the court then appoints an administrator, who can be the same person as the executor. If the heirs all agree as to what should be done and there is no property to which title must be changed, probate can be skipped because there is no one to complain. A trustee handles the operation of a Trust and can only do what the trust directs him/her to do. You need to contact the appropriate person to find out if they will pay the rent or what arrangements can be made. If you are the trustee, read the Trust documents and see what you can do and contact the owner of the mobile park.... Read More

There's no set deadline. Her "stuff," the tangible personal property in her home, might all be gone already or it might be getting moldy just sitting in the house waiting for someone to do something. I take it you have no contact with any family member. The only thing to do is contact any sibling and ask what is going on.... Read More

Demand she produce the Will and anything she claims supports her position. Tell her if she will not, you will file to probate your father's estate [read Nolo Press books on what is involved], which involves filing for probate in the county where he resided and if she has taken anything she is not entitled to you will have to sue her and see if there is an criminal liability on her part. In California, unless he left a valid Will stating the opposite, the children of the deceased [if there is no wife] usually get all the assets, not the grandparents.... Read More

If the trust does not own the real estate, then the trust document is irrelevant. If your father has transferred the property to her, then the only way for him to get the property back is to sue for quiet title because he didn't intend to transfer the property, there was a mistake, fraud, undue influence, etc. Contact an attorney for a full consultation.... Read More

They are not willing to do anything to collect $27,000+ each? They may even be so lazy that they have a third party do their posting. Ask the insurance company what they need to release the funds and then do it. If they can all agree on something, one of them can do it or hire an attorney; if the attorney needs something signed [he can mail the papers to them but send stamped self address envelope to avoid tiring them out].... Read More

I am sorry to hear of your dad's health. Assuming he has no will, trust, beneficiary designation, co-owner on account, or similar saying otherwise the property would go to his kids. Depending on the value (generally a total of $150,000) a full probate may be required. Thus if his assets are worth more than $150,000 you should talk to an estate planning attorney ASAP about a living trust. Otherwise you might talk to dad about making you co-owners on the investments and bank. Also he can sign his DMV pink slip to make it easy to transfer the car. Good luck!  -John... Read More

Some bank accounts name a beneficiary if the person should die. Is this the case as to your father? Even if you pay off all his debts, why would the bank give you what is left over? Get a high Bank official to make a firm decision. They have no idea that you are your father's sole heir and it would be stupid of them to give you all the money, as they could be sued by someone else claiming an interest [plus, does he have any other debts secured by the bank account]. Since I assume it is a relatively large amount of money, go to a local estate-trusts attorney to work out a strategy and determine what your legal rights are.You may have to file for probate, especially since the car title is not in your name and the DMV is not going to transfer title to you just because you paid off the loan on it. The lawyer is going to want to know what precisely was said as to the payment of the Visa card to learn if the bank acted correctly [why would it pay a debt to a third party instead of paying itself sounds fishy, especially since it was unsecured the bank probably had no right to make the payment if you had an account with them, would they pay your monthly rent to your landlord if he just walked in and asked for payment.... Read More