Entering the world of Wills, Trusts and probate can be confusing. One of the first questions people often ask is: what is the difference between a Trustee and an Executor? To put it simply, a Trustee is the person who oversees a Trust, while an Executor is the person who oversees a Will, which often
We should never forget when reading a written decision by any Court that there are people—real, live, breathing people—behind the words laid down in the Court’s opinion. I was recently reminded of this fact when I received a call from Tom Giraldin, son of William A. Giraldin, whose estate I discussed in an earlier blog
Probate is an antiquated term that simply means to prove-up a decedent’s Will. It is a Court process where a decedent’s assets are gathered, creditors are paid, heirs are identified and located, and the assets distributed either according to the decedent’s Will or by statute if a decedent died without a Will (referred to as
Every California probate requires a host of forms to start, administer, and complete successfully. In lawyer talk, these forms are for “decedent’s estates,” which also means probate estates. Anytime any assets pass through probate, these are some of the forms that are used to navigate the probate process (these are the most commonly used California probate