Q: Who to contact after mother's death about estate avoiding probate?

A: I’m sorry to hear about your mother’s passing. Navigating estate matters can be complex, You mentioned that your mother worked with a lawyer to avoid probate, and there is a will specifying that her assets—including IRAs, bank accounts, and real estate—are to be equally divided between you and your sister. However, the presence of a will alone doesn’t necessarily avoid probate. It’s unclear what specific measures were taken to circumvent the probate process.

Common probate avoidance strategies in California include:

- Revocable Living Trusts: Assets placed in a trust can bypass probate.

- Joint Ownership with Right of Survivorship: Assets held jointly can pass directly to the surviving owner.

- Payable-on-Death (POD) or Transfer-on-Death (TOD) Designations: These allow assets like bank accounts or securities to transfer directly to named beneficiaries.

- Revocable Transfer on Death Deed (RTODD): For real estate, this deed allows property to transfer to a beneficiary upon death without probate.

If none of these instruments were used, and the estate’s value exceeds certain thresholds,

Updated Probate Thresholds in California

California has specific thresholds that determine whether an estate must go through probate:

- Personal Property: For deaths occurring on or after April 1, 2025, estates valued at $ 208,850 or less can utilize a simplified procedure using a Small Estate Affidavit.

- Real Property: Effective April 1, 2025, Assembly Bill 2016 increases the threshold for transferring a decedent’s primary residence without formal probate to $750,000. This means that if your mother’s primary residence is valued at or below this amount, it may qualify for a simplified transfer process.

Reach out to the lawyer who prepared your mother’s estate documents. They can clarify whether any probate avoidance measures, such as a trust or RTODD, were implemented.

Understanding the specifics of your mother’s estate plan is crucial to determine the appropriate steps. The attorney who assisted her will be the best resource to guide you through this process.

A: Since your mother set up a plan designed to bypass probate, you will need a lawyer to review the estate planning documents, whether it is a trust, transfer on death deed, or other paperwork. Once the review has taken place, you can plan the next steps for finalizing the estate distribution.

Your financial situations may influence the process but won’t necessarily complicate it if probate is avoided. Assets transferred through a trust or beneficiary designations typically don’t affect SSI or SSD eligibility, as they aren’t considered income unless you liquidate them and retain excess resources above the SSI resource limit. To protect your benefits, consult a financial advisor familiar with public benefits to ensure any inherited assets are managed to avoid impacting your SSI/SSD.

A: You’ll begin by locating whoever serves as successor trustee under your mother’s trust—often that’s the same lawyer who prepared the documents or a trust company she named. Reach out to that law firm or institution (look for the trust’s name in her papers or bank statements) and ask for an original or certified copy of the trust instrument and any instructions for distribution.

If you can’t find a trustee or the drafting attorney’s office has closed, contact the probate court clerk in the county where your mother lived and inquire whether anyone has filed a “Petition to Administer Trust.” You can then ask the court to appoint you (and your sister) as successor co-trustees so you can gather assets and make distributions per the trust’s terms without going through full probate.

Because you receive SSI and SSD, remember that a revocable trust’s assets may still count as available resources for benefits purposes until they’re distributed; you might temporarily lose eligibility if the trust holds large sums. You can work with a legal-aid attorney or call your local bar association’s referral service for a brief consult on structuring distributions to protect your ongoing benefit eligibility and to guide you through any court filings or trustee duties.