10 Inheritance Problems Every California Family Should Prepare For
An 8-minute video on the ten inheritance problems California families face most, from no will to a trustee who won’t talk. Full transcript included.
What the video covers
- No will: who inherits under intestate succession
- The house in one name: probate and its shortcuts
- Probate fees set by law
- Named executor: duties and deadlines
- The living trust that was never funded
- Successor trustee: notice and administration
- The trustee who won’t account
- Siblings and one house
- Remarriage and who is left out
- The will that changed at the end
- Someone took it: financial elder abuse
Transcript
0:00 Mom left us her house
0:00 Mom left us her house. 0:01 So why is a judge deciding what happens to it? 0:04 It can take 18 months in court. 0:06 Fees that can reach $46,000 on a million-dollar estate. 0:11 And three of us, who stopped speaking. 0:13 Every day, about 790 Californians die. 0:17 Each one leaves a family with deadlines nobody's ready for. 0:21 These are the top 10 inheritance problems that hit California families hardest, 0:26 in the order they usually arrive. 0:28 And what the law, and the right lawyer, can do about each one.
0:32 Part one: Inheritance paperwork
0:35 Problem one: no will. 0:37 Fewer than half of American adults have one. 0:39 If you have no will, California has already written one for you. 0:43 You just didn't get a say in it. 0:45 It's called intestate succession: 0:47 the order the law uses to pick the heirs when there's no valid will. 0:51 An unmarried partner isn't on the list. 0:54 And a surviving spouse can receive as little as one third of the separate property. 0:59 A will or trust fixes this before a death. 1:02 After one, an attorney establishes who the law says inherits, and who gets to serve. 1:08 Problem two: the house was in Mom's name alone. 1:11 That usually means probate: the court-supervised process of settling an estate, 1:16 from proving the will to paying the last debt. 1:19 California has shortcuts, with limits. 1:23 A small estate affidavit works only up to $208,850. 1:28 The new home petition, only up to $750,000. 1:32 California's median home sold for about $900,000 in August. 1:38 So for many families, the house alone means formal probate. 1:42 And the fees are set by law: four percent of the first hundred thousand, 1:46 three percent of the next hundred thousand, 1:48 two percent of the next eight hundred thousand. 1:51 For the attorney, and again for the executor. 1:54 They're figured on the gross value. 1:56 The mortgage isn't subtracted. 1:58 An attorney can tell you whether probate is needed at all, which shortcut fits, 2:02 and how to keep the next generation out of court. 2:05 Problem three: you've been named executor. 2:08 Congratulations. 2:09 Being named in the will isn't enough. 2:11 No one can act until the court issues letters. 2:14 Then the clock starts: an inventory within four months, creditor claims, 2:19 notices to the state, and a report within a year. 2:22 And an executor who breaches those duties can be personally charged with the estate's losses, 2:27 plus interest. 2:29 An attorney keeps the executor on schedule, and out of the line of fire. 2:33 Problem four: the living trust that was never funded. 2:37 A living trust holds your property while you're alive, 2:39 and passes it on without probate. 2:42 But under California law, a trust exists only if there's property in it. 2:46 A trust with nothing in it is a very expensive folder. 2:50 If the house was never deeded to the trust, the family can face probate anyway, 2:55 or a court petition to prove the house belongs to the trust. 2:59 California's Attorney General warns that some trust packages sold to seniors are never properly funded. 3:05 An attorney drafts the trust, funds it, and when something was missed, 3:09 asks the court to put it right.
3:11 Part two: Trustee silence
3:14 So far, that's paperwork. 3:16 Now the people get involved. 3:18 Problem five: you're the successor trustee, 3:20 the person named to take over when the trust's creator dies. 3:24 Within 60 days, you must notify every beneficiary, and every heir. 3:29 That notice starts 120-day clock to contest the trust. 3:33 Skip it, and you can be responsible for the damages and fees it causes. 3:37 Then come the assessor's filing, the tax returns, and an accounting every year. 3:42 An attorney turns that stack into a checklist. 3:45 Problem six, from the other side of the table: the trustee who won't talk. 3:50 A trustee owes a fiduciary duty: 3:52 to manage the trust solely in the beneficiaries' interest. 3:56 California requires a trustee to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed, 4:00 and to account at least once a year. 4:03 "I'll get to it" is not an accounting. 4:06 If a reasonable written request goes unanswered for 60 days, 4:10 a beneficiary can generally ask the court to step in. 4:13 And a court can remove a trustee for breach of trust, hostility, failing to act, 4:18 or excessive pay. 4:20 An attorney makes the request the right way, 4:22 and takes it to court when it's ignored. 4:24 Quick quiz. 4:25 True or false: California has an inheritance tax. 4:29 False. 4:30 California has no inheritance tax, and no estate tax. 4:34 But there is a tax trap. 4:35 It's problem seven. 4:37 Problem seven: three siblings, one house, zero agreement. 4:41 Under Proposition nineteen, 4:43 an inherited family home can keep the parent's low tax base, up to a limit, 4:47 but only if a child makes it their main home within a year. 4:51 Move out, or rent it out, and the home is reassessed. 4:55 When siblings can't agree, any co-owner can ask a court to divide or sell the house. 5:00 An attorney lines up the tax deadlines with the probate or trust timeline, 5:04 and negotiates the buyout before it becomes a lawsuit. 5:08 Tap that like button if you've learned something new, 5:11 and subscribe to keep current with the latest legal updates.
5:14 Part three: Legal fight
5:17 And when a family can't agree, the paperwork becomes a lawsuit. 5:21 Problem eight: Dad remarried, and never updated his trust. 5:25 California protects an omitted spouse: 5:27 someone who married after the will or trust was signed, and was left out. 5:32 By law, they may be entitled to a share. 5:35 And without a will, a stepchild generally inherits only if adopted. 5:39 An attorney sorts out what's community property, what's separate, 5:42 and who the law protects. 5:44 Problem nine: the will changed. 5:46 Right at the end. 5:47 A will contest is a court challenge claiming the document isn't valid: 5:52 it wasn't signed properly, the person lacked capacity, 5:55 or someone used undue influence. 5:58 California defines undue influence as excessive persuasion that overcomes a person's free will, 6:04 and produces an unfair result. 6:07 To make a valid will, a person must understand what a will does, what they own, 6:11 and who their family is. 6:13 More than 700,000 older Californians were estimated to have Alzheimer's dementia. 6:19 In one study of San Francisco probate cases, 6:22 more than one estate in nine ended up in litigation. 6:26 And the window is short: 6:28 a challenge to a will admitted to probate generally must be filed within 120 days. 6:34 An attorney gathers the medical records and the evidence, 6:37 tests the no-contest clause, and files before the window closes. 6:41 Or defends the will, when the challenge is unfair. 6:45 Problem ten, the hardest one: someone took it. 6:48 Financial elder abuse includes taking an older person's property by undue influence, 6:53 including through a will or a trust. 6:56 A gift to a dependent adult's caregiver, in a document signed during the care, 7:01 or within 90 days of it, is presumed to be the product of fraud or undue influence. 7:07 A court that finds someone took estate or trust property in bad faith can hold them liable for twice its value. 7:14 And when elder financial abuse is proven, 7:16 the law requires the court to award reasonable attorney's fees. 7:20 An attorney follows the money, 7:22 and brings the probate petition and the elder abuse claim together.
7:26 The answer: California Inheritance Law helps
7:29 Ten problems. 7:30 Look closely, and they share three things: a document, a deadline, and a duty. 7:35 Some deadlines are as short as sixty, or 120 days. 7:38 Miss one, and a right can be gone for good. 7:42 That's why California Inheritance Law exists. 7:45 Probate and estate administration. 7:48 Trust administration. 7:49 Wills and living trusts. 7:51 And when families disagree: will and trust contests, trustee accountability, 7:56 elder financial abuse, and recovering property that belongs to the estate. 8:01 The firm's attorneys include a former federal judicial clerk, 8:05 and a former San Francisco prosecutor with more than thirty jury trials. 8:10 In probate, you can hire a lawyer, but you don't have to. 8:13 A probate lawyer's fee is set by law, 8:15 and generally paid from the estate at the end of the case. 8:19 For select disputes, the firm can work on contingency, with no upfront fee. 8:24 Costs are separate, and set out in writing before you sign. 8:28 And your first conversation is a free consultation. 8:31 Call anytime: the line is answered 24/7. 8:35 Mom left us her house. 8:36 She never meant to leave us a court case. 8:39 Get clear answers early, while every option is still open. 8:43 Visit California Inheritance Law. 8:45 Dot com today.
General information, not legal advice. Stories in the videos are illustrative. The rules behind each point are explained, with their Probate Code sources, in the guides linked above.
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