California
I wonder if someone could help me.
So unfortunately, my Mom’s elderly brother and his son (so my uncle and cousin) both passed away in a house fire a couple of years ago. My uncles Estate was in a trust which stated that everything went to his son first and his sister (my Mom) was the contingent beneficiary.
Anyway, as far as we know, his son didn’t have a will. Or at least if he did it would have gone up in smoke. He was never married and had no children and had only named his father as the beneficiary on his life insurance policy.
My understanding is that we can claim his estate under intestate rules of succession. If I understand it correctly, as his parents are deceased and he was never married nor has any children, the next line of succession is aunties and uncles which would be my Mom. He had other aunties and uncles on his Moms side (she passed over 10 years ago) but they have all since passed away too. I know the law states the decendants of those aunties and uncles would be entitled to their share.
This is where the problem is. We have no idea who these people are or even how to contact them. My cousin was not close to that side of his family. The house burned down so any address books or contact information would have been lost.
I am asking how the California courts will deal with this sort of situation. Do we simply appoint an executor (my Mom is his next of kin so presumably she has the right) and we file the papers to claim the estate as his heir or will they expect us to undertake this lengthy and expensive process of trying to find any other heirs? Do they trust the heir or do they expect proof? My Mom’s name and address is already in my Uncles trust thankfully so we can easily prove she is his Auntie but it’s the descendants on the other side of the family that I am not sure about.
Any help would be appreciated. We of course do have a lawyer working on my Uncles estate but it’s been extremely expensive so I’m keen to avoid asking him these billable questions. I would rather be armed with the right information for when we start the process for my cousins estate.
I wonder if someone could help me.
So unfortunately, my Mom’s elderly brother and his son (so my uncle and cousin) both passed away in a house fire a couple of years ago. My uncles Estate was in a trust which stated that everything went to his son first and his sister (my Mom) was the contingent beneficiary.
Anyway, as far as we know, his son didn’t have a will. Or at least if he did it would have gone up in smoke. He was never married and had no children and had only named his father as the beneficiary on his life insurance policy.
My understanding is that we can claim his estate under intestate rules of succession. If I understand it correctly, as his parents are deceased and he was never married nor has any children, the next line of succession is aunties and uncles which would be my Mom. He had other aunties and uncles on his Moms side (she passed over 10 years ago) but they have all since passed away too. I know the law states the decendants of those aunties and uncles would be entitled to their share.
This is where the problem is. We have no idea who these people are or even how to contact them. My cousin was not close to that side of his family. The house burned down so any address books or contact information would have been lost.
I am asking how the California courts will deal with this sort of situation. Do we simply appoint an executor (my Mom is his next of kin so presumably she has the right) and we file the papers to claim the estate as his heir or will they expect us to undertake this lengthy and expensive process of trying to find any other heirs? Do they trust the heir or do they expect proof? My Mom’s name and address is already in my Uncles trust thankfully so we can easily prove she is his Auntie but it’s the descendants on the other side of the family that I am not sure about.
Any help would be appreciated. We of course do have a lawyer working on my Uncles estate but it’s been extremely expensive so I’m keen to avoid asking him these billable questions. I would rather be armed with the right information for when we start the process for my cousins estate.
