Demand to View Will

[webgal]

My jurisdiction is: CA

My jurisdiction is: california

My jurisdiction is: california

Hi folks,
My grandmother recently passed away and there are three direct descendants - me, my sister, and my father. During the last years of his life, he got her to put his name on all of his accounts to "avoid taxes". He has told me in the past that there is a will, but is not letting us see it. I have a few question:

1. How do I demand to see the will?
2. If the will was changed in the past few years while she was in severely declining health, can it be challenged?
3. Is it legal for him to hijack her finances in this way?
4. He says he is taking her money to put it in the "family trust", which is in fact his estate plan and has nothing to do with her. Is this legal?

HELP!

 

[CdwJava]

Is your grandfather the husband of your grandmother? if so, absent a will directing things to the contrary, he is almost certainly going to be the next of kin - not the rest of you.

If the will has been filed with the court, it will be public record through the court. If no will has been presented to the court (for probate, usually), then you will almost certainly have no legal right to see it. Though if one exists and it has not been filed, then that could cause a lot of problems for grandfather.

You and your kin may want to consult an attorney who can look into this for you ... assuming the estate might be worth enough to make it worth spending $10-20,000 or so.

But, again, unless the will says otherwise, her husband is her next of kin and the first in line to inherit, not the rest of you.

If she was of sound mind and she gave him the ability to control what had ostensibly been her finances, then she was within her right to do so.

- Carl

 

[webgal]

thank you for the information. there is no grandfather, so the son and two grandchildren (one of which is me) are the ONLY descendants. there is a will but my father is not filing it.

 

[CdwJava]

I assumed the "he" was a grandfather. Your phrasing left it a bit confusing, so I just went with that.

How do you KNOW there is a will? If no will was filed by an attorney or the family, then her estate will have to go into probate. But, if dad (or whomever) has all the assets in his name, then there may be little to put in to probate.

Even uncontested probate matters can take a year or more depending upon the complexity.

My mother-in-law passed with a will and with no arguments, and it still took more than a year because there was the issue of real property to be disposed of.

- Carl