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In the state of California, the estate of a decedent will normally be managed and distributed by either a Trust or a court supervised probate process. One exception is that if the net value of the estate is less than $150,000 (in personal property), the administrator may choose to bypass both and simply pay the debts of the estate and distribute the remaining assets to the heirs. For real property valued at less than $150,000Read more
You may be an Heir or an Administrator in a Probate Estate that is expecting or in need of cash. In general, a Court appointed Administrator may take out a secured loan (secured by the Estate home) for the benefit of the Estate. An Heir has no authority to encumber the Estate home or take out any such loan. But an heir can receive a cash advance on his/her inheritance. When you see a cashRead more
How are heirs in a probate estate determined? Often times, the deceased has left behind a Will, in which the beneficiaries are specifically identified. The respective amounts or percentages for the beneficiaries may be equally shared, or the deceased may have determined different percentages or amounts, or other various options. If there is no Will, then California Probate Code establishes entitlement per a family tree scheme. This default entitlement scheme (called intestacy) can be aRead more
The probate process in the State of California, now takes about 18 months. It is not uncommon for this to take considerably longer. The Courts maintain strict oversight over the process, but are extremely overburdened. Hearing dates are constantly pushed out, and there are often other matters that delay receipt of an inheritance. Meanwhile, the heirs may have pressing financial needs, such as 1.Immediate need for burial expenses 2.Cash to clean up and upgrade EstateRead more
I will begin by stating that while most people think of a probate cash advance as a loan, this is generally not the case. Most probate inheritance cash advances are actually assignments of interest. The heir has a probable inheritance coming their way, but often cannot wait until the completion of the court supervised process, for all or part of the inheritance. This may literally take 18 months or more. An assignment of interest isRead more
In the Estate where a Will is offered for probate, a proposed executor (and sometimes an alternate) is nominated in the Decedent’s Will. The deceased will generally choose a trusted family member, and occasionally they will choose an unrelated trusted individual such as a lawyer, financial specialist, or private professional fiduciary. In an Estate where there is no Will, and thus no named Executor, there is a default statutory priority as to who can beRead more
What to do when a probate estate includes property that has an outstanding mortgage balance? Most often, a probate estate includes a home or other properties that have an open mortgage balance. It is crucial that payments on the mortgage are kept up to date. It is the obligation of the estate administrator to see this is done (if possible), to ensure that the home, including equity, is not lost to foreclosure. Of note, theRead more
You have just learned that you are an heir to a probate estate. Of course you are saddened by the loss of a loved one, but adding to your woes, you learn that it will probably take 12-18 months for you to have access to your share of your inheritance. Frankly, it may even take much longer. The Court supervised process managing probate is cumbersome and lengthy. If there is more than one heir, thereRead more
In the State of California, the executor of an estate has the right to hire a probate attorney to assist in the management of process, or to keep matters in their own hands. If the executor wishes to control the process by themselves, the estate is called “in pro per”. That signifies that there is not an attorney supervising the process. In either case, the process will still be overseen by the Courts. Often this decision is bestRead more
What is an Estate? We spend the majority of our lives working, raising our families, and putting aside some money towards our retirement. Hopefully during this time, we have accumulated some savings, perhaps an investment, and a home that has appreciated in value. This is called is called our Estate. This is the cash and property that we wish to leave our heirs as inheritance when we pass. The value of our Estate is determinedRead more