Probate

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Every beneficiary of a California Trust and Will has a basic right to information.  They have a right to see the Trust or Will document(s), they have a right to asset information, they have a right to full disclosure.  Yet not every Trustee or Executor complies with requests for information.  This video describes a beneficiary’s basic right to information. …

The omnipresent no-contest clause (originally called in terrorum clauses–as in to terrify one’s beneficiaries) is meant to prevent lawsuits. The idea being that if a beneficiary contests a California Will or Trust containing the clause, then that beneficiary is entirely disinherited and loses his gift under the document (see our previous blog post on how…

Fifty years ago, most assets passed from an individual who died to his or her family by way of Probate (by Will or Intestacy both of which require Probate). Probate is a strict, expensive and time-consuming Court process that must be completed before assets can ultimately being transferred to family members.

But today, we own…

In an earlier post we described what probate is and that it only applies to assets titled in the name of the decedent at the time of her death.  Now we want to discuss how to start the probate process (it’s just a court process after all).

Handling a California probate can be summed up…

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…