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no will upon death

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P

perplexed

Guest
My father recently passed away leaving no
will to our knowledge. He left his properties
in joint-tenacy with his wife, who is not the blood mother of his children. What rights do
we as blood children to our father have since there is no written will or trust of any kind left to our knowledge? If there is a current will and his surviving wife is witholding this information from us what can we do? Do we have any rights to property while she is still alive? What can we do to protect said properties for us after she passes on? It was always said, that the properties were to be left to her upon his passing, then to us children after her passing, but at this time, there is no will dated w/in the last 3 years.
There is one dated back in December of 1980
Does that have any bearing on how estate could/should be handled? We reside in California.

 


W

Whaleman72

Guest
You will probably want to confer with a California attorney.

However, assets held in a joint tenancy pass by operation of law to the surviving tenant. Therefore, concerning assets titled jointly, it is irrelevant what someone's will states. Therefore, you have no claim against these jointly titled assets.

As to any other assets which are not jointly titled and which do not pass to a named beneficiary by way of a contract such as a IRA beneficiary form or insurance beneficiary form, a person's Will dictates where the property is to go. If there is no Will, then your state's intestacy laws control and the state dictates how the assets are dispersed.

Unless your father's Will was revoked, it is still legitimate assuming it was properly executed back in 1980. Therefore, assets which do not pass by operation of law pass under this Will.

Usually there is absolutely no obligation for parents to leave assets to their grown children, but double check with a California attorney.
 

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