Mother left no will

[oczad]

Well, i have tried the calmly spoken voice already and let them know what they are legally bound to do and the consequences. Nothing works with them.Well, till this morning. Seems they only respond to crazies ! I finally lost it and went off on one of them like a rocket. I made it very clear i'm pissed beyond pissed and why, then threatened them with a law suit in no uncertain terms.

Till now asking for a superior always resulted in the same BS, often telling me "I AM the supervisor". But when i let loose on one of them this morning it must have sent a strong message because she asked for the probate code which i gave her. Then she had me hold for quite a long time which i believe was probably due to her super finding and reading the Ca code. Something that needed to be done but one of them seemed to care about doing ! In fact, of 3 calls to them today, one of them actually told me i need a CERTIFIED copy of the Ca probate code sent to them from my probate court, which when i called was told by the court that they don't do that and it's unheard of !!! They only certify cases, not laws. So thats when i called back and went ballistic.

In any case, when the long hold was over the real super came on the line and i believe must have read the Ca code and gave me a list of things i need to include, all which are fine, doable and logical....finally ! So unless they again start with the BS, i'll be sending my claim in next week once i get my bank to give me a signature guarantee on the letter of instruction they requested. Called the bank and they do that free and quickly..whew ! Coulda sworn that would end up being another problem i'd have to call back and scream about. The only possibility for further problems is if after receiving the claim they decide to reject it. I see no reason why after this final talk, but then *reason* is something they can't understand, so who knows.
The worse part of all this is i have had a very hard time with losing my mother who i miss so much there are no words, and this only makes that worse. I pray all the time she can hear me when i talk to her, but if she can i just hope she knows nothing about whats going on with this fund because it would make her very sad.
Love you mama....

 

[Dandy Don]

You are making this much more difficult than it has to be although it is a bit of an unusual situation. Too bad no one is giving you helpful, easily understandable advice. If it were a normal estate the executor could have been able to handle all this for you.

If you open up probate yourself, you can file the paperwork to become personal representative (if there is no will), or executor (if there is a will). Go down to the county courthouse and request the papers yourself, but don't ask the clerks there a bunch of questions and don't explain your situation--just get the form you need and leave. Soon after filing the papers you will receive a certified copy of the document you need, called letters testamentary.

You may want to consult with a probate attorney to find out what happens after you receive your document, as far as the need for court proceedings. If it turns out that because the assets are payable outside of probate, there would be no need for further probate and I would be asking a local probate attorney exactly how you go about the procedure of canceling probate if there is no need for it.

You perhaps should have been consulting with a probate attorney all along but maybe you wrongfully assumed it would be expensive or maybe you didn't see the need to do that, but it shouldn't cost very much just to have a consultation for less than an hour.

Best of luck to you in getting a good outcome--hopefully you will be receiving your check before too long!!

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[oczad]

I already have it sussed out, or at least i think so. It's just a matter now of sending it in. Hopefully they won't give me any further problems once they get it. But the thing is, this SHOULD have been much easier and would have been if these bozos at the fund were not so incompetent or unwilling to be honest with me. I'm not sure if it was incompetence or an unwillingness to help so the fund would remain as long as possible so they can keep collecting interest. Whatever the case, the procedure it turns out is as simple as pie, but there are those who apparently have wrongful motivation to make it hard for you. Only when i went ballistic on them and began threatening legal action did they come around. Anyways, just for the record here is what they require of me...

1)-affidavit of small estate transfer, notarized
2)-affidavit of domicile, notarized
3)-A letter of instruction saying i am the executor of my mothers estate,the account #, and how i want payment and i must have it "medallion signature guaranteed" which my bank said they will do free.
4)-death certificate

 

[anteater]

You are making this much more difficult than it has to be although it is a bit of an unusual situation. Too bad no one is giving you helpful, easily understandable advice. If it were a normal estate the executor could have been able to handle all this for you...

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

tecate's advice on Section 13100 was spot on. Having to get down & dirty with a recalcitrant mutual fund company support flunky is a minor irritant compared with the expense, time, and hassle of a full-blown California probate, especially for $30,000.


oczad -- If you don't mind, what fund company is this that you are dealing with?

 

[tecate]

Actually, your status is that of "successor" not "executor." In California, even if you are named in a will as a person's executor, you aren't legally the executor until a court appoints you. (And then, the badge of authority is a copy of your letters.) My guess is the mutual fund still has it wrong. So if they bounce your docs for lack of letters, I wouldn't be surprised.

Ask them if the letter of instruction shouldn't be written by the successor.

 

[oczad]

Ok, now i'm worried again. I was all ready to get this stuff notarized and signature guaranteed and all, now i'm wondering if that one word could screw things up. They told me to say "executor". But you are likely right that successor would be the correct term because it's doesn't insinuate that i am court appointed but that i am because i am her son and no one else has superior right or is contesting anything. But the thing that worries me is the possibility that this is yet another ply to stop or at least prolong the transfer by refusing the claim due to my claiming to be legally appointed when i'm not. Then deny they even told me to use that word.

Honestly, i'm so damn tired of this it's almost not worth the 28k. It just never ends.

 

[tecate]

Don't give up now, you're almost there. You have correctly interpreted the statute and my comment. You are right, the procedure is as simple as pie. The hard part is dealing with the person on the other end who just doesn't know what he or she is doing.

I don't believe that the fund is doing this intentionally. You are probably experiencing the result of hiring less than optimal people to keep overhead low. If you let this common occurance get under your skin, they've won.

Look at this as a learning experience. Just think of the war story you will have after successfully dealing with a large bureaucracy. For sure you will need to deal with one again. Then, you will have a better frame of mind with which to accomplish what you need to accomplish.

I'm curious too. Who are these guys?

 

[oczad]

Ok, but what do you think i should do? Calling them to ask could be a two-fold problem**************one, i can't even talk to the person who finally asked for a realistic package from me, and two, if i ask that question i may get a answer saying that i MUST use executor and that if that means going to court then i have to. In others, right back to the old "you must do probate" bs. What would you suggest tecate? Oh, and it's called primerica. Don't ask me about the fund because i know absolutely nothing about investments.

 

[anteater]

Ok, but what do you think i should do? Calling them to ask could be a two-fold problem**************one, i can't even talk to the person who finally asked for a realistic package from me, and two, if i ask that question i may get a answer saying that i MUST use executor and that if that means going to court then i have to. In others, right back to the old "you must do probate" bs. What would you suggest tecate? Oh, and it's called primerica. Don't ask me about the fund because i know absolutely nothing about investments.

If I posted what I think about Primerica, I would probably get the permanent boot from these forums. Enough said.

I understand your frustration and know that it is an emotional time for you, but you are letting this wrap you around the axle. Try not to let it become personal. It isn't as if you have only one shot at this. The money is not going anywhere. You submit the paperwork properly and, if they reject it, you can:

1) Resubmit
2) Open probate.
3) Sue them under 13105(b). Their rejection of proper paperwork is evidence of them being unreasonable.

 

[tecate]

The LOI should be written by you as the successor, not as executor. Also, include a copy of the Probate Code sections (13100-13116) dealing with this. Emphasize that you do not need to initiate formal administration because 13100-13116 is the proper procedure. (Administration means full probate.) Make it easy as you can for the person on the other end to realize that "get letters" is not the proper answer.

I've dealt with Primerica before, and recall a very slow process. Their forms were obtuse, but they finally acted.

Good luck.

 

[oczad]

You are correct to be sure. And i called them today after i posted and they said i can use "successor" because they just want it written and certified that i profess to be the heir if you will. Covering their @ss i guess. So i have changed the letter and at this point i am ready to go get the affidavit of small state transfer and affidavit of domicile notarized and the letter signature guaranteed and sen it off. The only possible hurdle is that there are things on the affidavits i'm not 100% sure about. But hopefully the notary will be able to help me there. One thing is that there is a blank in which i am supposed to write in the account number AND the name and address of the holder. Theres about enough room to write in the account number and thats about it ! Not sure how the creator of that for expects you to do this. I was thinking i could put in the account number and and asterisk, then an asterisk at the bottom of the form under the sig and date with the name and addy of primerica.

To bad they are such baboons.....the account is doing extremely well in the last statement. So much so that i was rather amazed and would have considered opening a much larger account with them after this is all done. But after all this i wouldn't give them the time of day let alone my $.

 

[oczad]

Well, after more problems getting the never ending string of questions that keep cropping up answered, i finally sent it off today after getting it all notorized and the letter signature guaranteed. Keeping my fingers crossed that they don't reject the claim. I'm sure it will take several weeks, but i'll post back and let you all know what happened.

Thank you all so much for your help in this very hard time for me. I appriciate it very much.

 

[oczad]

I said i'd post back with the final results and so i am....they sent me the check for the full amount. I gotta tell ya, i really didn't expect it after all i'd gone thru. I figured they'd reject the claim and i'd have to go thru more BS. But i'm done. I found a few other resources for help, but nothing helped as much as the help i got here. Thanks so much again for the help.

 

[anteater]

I said i'd post back with the final results and so i am....they sent me the check for the full amount. I gotta tell ya, i really didn't expect it after all i'd gone thru. I figured they'd reject the claim and i'd have to go thru more BS. But i'm done. I found a few other resources for help, but nothing helped as much as the help i got here. Thanks so much again for the help.

It's good to hear that things worked out well for you. Chalk one up for persistence.

 

[tecate]

X2 That was very fast. You must have written a great letter.