My mother passed she has multiple bank accounts but only one is joint account with my father.

Question

Obviously under California law my father is entitled to the funds in the joint bank account because his name is also on it. But if there is no will or the other accounts are not listed in the trust is he also entitled to 100% of the funds in the personal savings and checking accounts?

Jeffrey Louis Gaffney · Answer

When someone dies intestate (without a Will), then their property is divided per the statute. 
The surviving spouse inherits all community property. 
The spouse and children share the separate property of the deceased, with the surviving spouse getting at least one-third no matter how many children there are. 
Community property is anything the couple earned or built together during the marriage. 
Separate property is whatever assets they brought into the marriage, plus anything they may have inherited during the marriage. 
It is more complicated than that and separate property sometimes changes to community property, but that is the basic idea. 
So your father is entitled to the accounts unless they were separate property your mother kept separate from him (that is, from the community). 
Depending on the size of the estate, he may need to go through a Probate process to get the bank to release the funds to him.   If the amount is small enough, then a simple affidavit and certificate of death will do it.   Check the web site of your local Probate court and it will explain the rules.

John B. Palley · Answer

Mr gaffney gave a good overview of cp and sp. I agree with him. The next question is if the total of the accounts just in his name is more or less than $150,000. For estates worth $150k and less there are small estate affidavit procedures that can be done. Over $150k then a full probate is required.

Q: My mother passed she has multiple bank accounts but only one is joint account with my father.