During an estate administration it is your duty to manage and distribute the assets. Assets are sometimes not discovered until after the estate is closed.
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Administering an estate is not always an easy process. This is especially true when the estate holds an interest a business, as several issues can arise.
The recent Supreme Court ruling regarding marriage rights of same sex couples will impact estate administration. This includes the treatment of certain assets.
While some families choose to create a California estate plan that distributes assets evenly between all children, this is not always the case. Some individuals may wish to disinherit an heir.
The will or trust may clearly lay out the wishes of the deceased; however, an heir or beneficiary may be upset with the way the instrument reads. The result could be a California will contest over the disputed document.
When a decedent executed more than one version of a will during his or her lifetime, a beneficiary or heir might later try to argue that the original version of the will was never properly revoked.
Unfortunately, some personal representatives fail to abide by these rules and attempt to distribute probate assets without following the procedures outlined in the California Probate Code for a probate administration. The result may be a California will contest.
While it may seem odd that a probate administration would go unfinished, it is a fairly common occurrence. Read more about failing to finish a probate.
One such a mistake occurs when successor trustees make a distribution of trust assets to the wrong beneficiary. Read more here.
Unfortunately, many people forget to update their San Diego life insurance beneficiary designations following life changes and before they pass away.