San Diego, CA asked in Estate Planning for California

Q: My father passed away 10 years ago and had a trust. My sister and I were beneficiaries. I was the successor trustee.

We divided things up equally. Fast forward 10 years and we discovered he had a life insurance policy. They will not accept the trust documents as proof that I am the executor trustee of the estate. They will not discuss if there are any monies to be distributed to the estate. They say I must obtain a Letter of Administration or Letters testamentary from the courts. The trust existed to avoid probate. How should I proceed? I assume there is a healthy court cost. We don't know if there is anything to distribute. Its been 10 years, everything has been distributed but this. How would the court look upon this. I don't want to spend thousands to find out there is nothing. What to do?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Gerald Barry Dorfman
Gerald Barry Dorfman
Answered
  • Mill Valley, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: There are at least a couple of options, although none are free. It appears that the policy was not part of the trust, so it is not surprising that they don't care who is trustee. If there is evidence he meant for it to be included in the trust, it may be possible to petition the probate court to deem it trust property. If the value of non-trust assets, including the policy proceeds is small enough, a simple affidavit might work. Also short of a full probate is a court proceeding for small estates.

Nina Whitehurst and Sally Bergman agree with this answer

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