1. The Will we found was over 42 years old.


Not long ago an old client and friend called and said her stepfather had just died. Her mother had died 15 years before. After her mom and stepfather were married, it was the second marriage for both, he made a Will and named his two stepchildren as beneficiaries. It is believed that this was at mom's insistence. Step-dad over the years gradually discontinued contact with his stepdaughter after her brother died. I told stepdaughter about a Will we had found that was 23 years old and to search the decedent's house thoroughly. She found a chest under his bed, and in the chest was a box, and in the box was an envelope, and in the envelope was a Will that was dated 1957.

The Will was submitted to the Probate Court for approval and was accepted for Administration. The Will contained the names of the following:

Testator - the Decedent

Testator's second wife- Mary who had predeceased her husband 15 years earlier.

2nd Wife's Children - their names were Regina and Lloyd (Lloyd had died 5 years before Decedent.

Decedent's Daughter From His First Marriage - Loni.

Named Executrix in Will - Mary, his second wife. An alternate Executor/Executrix was not named.

THERE WAS A SECOND WILL

Another attorney, apparently called by one of the heirs, had prepared a new Will for the Testator to sign but it was delivered to his house to sign 10 minutes after he had died in his bed. The new Will omitted the stepchildren named in his first Will as beneficiaries.

A BOY NAMED LUCKY

After testator had married Mary; and, he had written his first Will, he and Mary had a son. The son's name was Lucky.

LLOYD'S CHILDREN

At the time that decedent died Lloyd had two living children named Donnie and Marie.


2. The Wills Fifth Paragraph - "FIFTH: In the event my Wife does not survive distribution of my estate, I give, devise, and bequeath all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate to Loni_______ , Lloyd_______, and Regina _______, share and share alike or to the survivors of them."


3. How Would You Have Interpreted the Will? See paragraph 13 herein below for Court Ruling.


4. Who became the Administrator/Administratrix? Mary had predeceased the decedent, Loni lived in Arizona and didn't want to be Administratrix, and Lucky lived in Seattle and didn't want to be the Administrator. Lloyd was no longer living. Lloyd's two children Marie and Donnie, lived in Texas. That left Regina, the stepdaughter, who lived about 35 miles from where decedent died, and she volunteered to be the Administratrix.


5. The Aunt Who Moved In. After the Testator died his sister, not named in his Will, decided to move into his house and refused to leave so that the property could be fixed up and listed for sale. The "tenant" refused to pay any rent. Loni or Lucky did not object.

Solution: It was necessary for us to serve a Notice to Quit upon the "tenant" before filing a legal action for Unlawful Detainer. The Unlawful tenant moved shortly after being served with the Notice to Quit Possession.

6. Who wrote the phony checks? The Administratrix received several bills in the mail after decedent's death. Following our counseling, she compared the signatures on the bills and questioned two of the charges. Presented with the facts, a major bank reduced a $9,800.00 charge to $4,900.00, and a large retailer reduced their bill from $1,500.00 to $1,150.00. Altogether, the estate saved $5,250.00. (We cannot print the suspicion that prompted the charges to be questioned).


7. Listing the real property. The Administratrix was counseled to list the estate real property for sale at five percent (5%) commission. Here, in southern California the ordinary real estate selling commission is six percent (6%). (With exceptions, property in the desert or timber country generally sell for ten percent (10%). The estate real property sold for $146,000.00. The reduced commission resulted in a savings to the estate of $1,460.00.


8. House-a-Wreck. The City of South Gate, Department of Building and Safety issued a report dated November 30, 1999, which listed over 81 corrective actions which had to be fixed, repaired, or installed before the real property title could be transferred. The Administratrix had to pull 13 separate permits to allow the work to be completed. No wonder no one wanted to administer the estate. The Administratrix was modest in her expenditures.


9. Closing escrow. The escrow for the sale of the house closed February 18, 2000. The estate was in a position to close April 10, 2000. The estate was opened August 5, 1999.


10. Estate Taxes. There were none due - estate taxes are only due if the net estate assets exceed $675,000.00.


11. Estate Accounting Report. We prepared all back-up accounting information and the Final Accounting Report to the Court. We also prepared and filed receipts of distribution which were first signed by the heirs.


12. Attorney Fees. The attorney fees to handle the above estate were only $4,020.00. This fee represented only two and seven tenths ( .02 and 7/10s % ) percent of the estate. (However, see paragraphs 6 and 7 herein above which evidence $6,710.00 that we helped save the estate. The estate did not incur any actual out of pocket expenses for our attorney fees.)


13. Winding up. One of the Testator's clearly expressed intentions in the Will was that the three children of the previously married spouses were to take equally from his estate. Here one child Lloyd, died. The remaining survivors of the class were Regina and Loni. Lucky, a child born following the execution of testator's Will was what is considered a pretermited heir. A pretermited heir with certain exceptions, generally takes what he or she would have received had the Testator died intestate. Here, the Testator had expressed an intention that each of the surviving children take equally and also an intention that none of the children were to receive more than the other surviving children. Although the Will was written by a lawyer it is ambiguous. If the pretermited heir had "taken" what he would have if his father died intestate, he would have received 50% of the estate. Understanding the intentions of their father and the law in California the parties entered into a Stipulation to divide the estate equally. The Court adopted the parties Stipulation and rendered an order in accordance with the Stipulation. Regina received a one-third share of her stepfather's estate even though he had intended via his unsigned second Will to disinherit her. The Administratrix followed instructions of her counsel "to a tee" and the result was that there was a monetary gain to the estate. The estate was in a position to close fairly quickly and the work of this office was most appreciated.