what does "the trustee shall distribute the balance of the trust estate in equal shares to those relatives of trustor`s heirs at law according to the laws of the state of california then in effect relating to succession mean"?
Yeeech... Was this a homebrew trust?
Welllll... try to deconstruct it:
1) "...laws of the state of california then in effect relating to succession" would seem to refer to the part of the CA Probate Code that deals with intestate succession (who gets what if the deceased does not have a will).
2) An heir at law would be someone who is entitled to inherit under the intestate succession statutes.
3) "...relatives of trustor`s heirs at law..." I would not want to be the trustee.
My name is on a revocable trust as a relative and the above statement is on this trust with 5 other relatives. Will I receive money when this person passes away?
No idea for two reasons:
1) It's not really possible to say based upon yanking one phrase from the document.
2) By the time that the trustor dies, there may be no assets to distribute. Or, if there are assets, the assets may have to be used to pay the trustor's legitimate creditors. Or, if there are assets after creditors are paid, there may be others higher in the distribution pecking order that receive the assets.
