QUESTION
Mother passed and I am am her only child. She has no real assets. In CA, do I need to present will, can I avoid probate?
Asked on Dec 11th, 2015 on Wills and Probate - California
More details to this question:
My mother died last week. She was an only child, her parents are deceased. She made a Will where I am the only Executor. She was living in low income housing, no real estate of her own. Her car is 12 years old and of low value. Before she died she added me to all her bank accounts, so I could access them easily. I could show the bank her death certificate, close them out and transfer them to my bank account. She accumulated some art, jewelry and computers over the years, but nothing that we know of is of high value. She left a list of things to distribute to friends/family but not as part of the will. I am following her wishes on those things - we are all close, nobody is fighting over these things. Do I need to present the will to the county she died in? It seems like there is no reason for Probate, since none of her assets are significant, and the bank accounts are shared. How to I avoid that?
1 ANSWER
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Probate Code sections 13100 – 13115 provide for a summary procedure to transfer the personal property of a decedent without going through a probate action if the decedent’s estate is valued at less than $150,000 and at least forty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent. The heir(s) is/are required to fill out and sign, in front of a notary public, an affidavit that conforms to California law. Then, the heir(s) must attach a certified copy of the death certificate to the affidavit.
The affidavit and certified copy of the death certificate can be presented to a bank, financial institution, self-storage facility, or similar holder of the decedent’s property. Sometimes, a bank or financial institution will require that the claimant make the claim on their own forms or they may require that the claimant have the key to a safe deposit box.
Any holder of property must relinquish the property to the claimant when presented with the affidavit and the certified copy of the death certificate. If they don’t, then the claimant can give notice to the holder of the property and then file a court action with the probate court to order that the property be released. The claimant may be entitled to attorney’s fees if the holder of the property wrongly withheld the property from the claimant.
Answered on Dec 11th, 2015 at 4:48 PM