California Spousal Property/Probate

[probate confusion]

My father died in September 2000. My step-mother is filing a Spousal Property Petition. The name used for filing was not my father's legal given name and there are mistakes in the section of "Name and Address of Each Person....." Do these errors negate the validity of the petition? Does my step-mother assume responsiblity for the filing of year end 2000 taxes since she is filing a propety petition? She does not want to be executor and refuses to discuss much of anything. The only item left for probate will be a money market account left to my father's children -- no problem there.

 

[ALawyer]

It sounds as if there is nothing that would go thru probate except miscellaneous furniture, and minor errors in the form do not void it.

She will file a joint tax return with him for 2000 I assume.