California has one of the more complicated probate processes. Probate is the court supervised process of administering the assets and debts of someone who passes away. Hopefully your loved one or friend that passes away does not have a mountain of debt to deal with and only assets need to be accounted for then distributed to beneficiaries or pursuant to intestate succession. The Law Offices of Lin and Wood’s Contra Costa County probate attorneys and probate attorneys in Contra Costa County are dedicated to providing you with the best probate experience. We understand that dealing with the estate of a loved one or friend can be difficult and stressful. Please give us a call at 1-877-963-9543 to schedule a consultation.
WHAT IS THE PROBATE PROCESS?
The process begins by filing a petition with the court. These are California State Court cases. The petition will normally be filed in the county where the decedent passed away. If the deceased person passed away and executed a will then, the executor of the will is usually approved as the personal representative of the estate. Once this takes place the Court will enter letters of testamentary if the person died with a will and letters of administration of the person died without a will. If there is no will then any assets of the estate and distributed by instate succession pursuant to the California Probate Code. The estate needs to be accounted for, notice published and creditors served with notice to file a claim for payment. Once the notice period has expired and claims rejected assets of the estate can be distributed to beneficiaries. A final accounting will be prepared and then the court can close the case. This is a very simplified explanation of the process. A typical probate case lasts nine months to a year.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING AN ESTATE GO THROUGH PROBATE?
The most significant advantage or benefit of having an estate go through probate is the odds of embezzlement, fraud or theft of estate assets or funds is much more difficult. The California Probate Court oversees the process and beneficiaries have a very obvious way to challenge how a will interpreted or how assets are distributed by intestate succession (passing without will). While putting assets in a living revocable trust or irrevocable living trust avoids probate the chance the trustee may embezzle funds or commit fraud are much higher given there is no supervision. The California Probate Code says a trustee of a trust must provide an accounting and notify beneficiaries. What if the trustee does not notify a beneficiary? How would a beneficiary ever know they were named as a beneficiary if not told? Once the beneficiary finds out what happened the trustee may have spent all of the trust assets or transferred the assets never to be found or recovered. The beneficiary absolutely has a right to sue the trustee for breaching their fiduciary duty and for failing to administer the trust properly. You get the picture. While the probate process takes longer and is more expensive there is peace of mind that your wishes will be followed. When creating a trust there are solutions to solve the problems described above. When you create a trust you should give a copy to the beneficiaries and name at least two people as trustees of the trust that do not have any conflicts of interest. Our Contra Costa County probate attorneys and probate attorneys in Contra Costa County will discuss these issues with you in detail during your consultation.
