If you found this blog post you probably have a question about restitution payments in a probate. I am a California attorney so my blog can only give information about California probate law. If you are in any other state you might take my information and share with an attorney in that state to see […]

Special Administration on a rush basis can happen in a California probate court. However, the facts have to be right to be granted the special letters on a rush basis. Today I will discuss the way this works and how you could obtain Letters of Special Administration in as short as 48 hours in some […]

A few years back the state of California changed the notary form that must be used by California notaries when notarizing a document. This is what is called the acknowledgement.  There are exceptions where a notary can use an out of state notary form but I will not get into those rules here.  The below […]

This post is about the Sacramento Probate Court Zoom Forms. In the wake of the Covid crisis we have yet another mandatory use form… at least here in Sacramento Superior Court – Family Law Division – Probate – Department 129. Actually there are three forms. You can get them on the court website and I […]

Filing for probate when there are a bunch of children often requires planning and thinking. That is a probate when the decedent had many children can bring pitfalls to the petitioner for probate. This is particularly true when there is no will (i.e. intestate succession) or a poorly drafted will or a will that is […]

When should you file a final petition in a California probate case? By final petition I mean an “accounting” or “report” of the administrator, executor or personal representative. In our office this is typically called a “FIRST AND FINAL REPORT OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE ON WAIVER OF ACCOUNTING AND PETITION FOR ITS SETTLEMENT, FOR WAIVER OF […]

I have told you before that OneLegal has great court updates. Here’s their latest. I encourage you to check their website for the latest and certainly reach out to them if you need help with E-filings. Here was there summary of the top changes but again check their website for more info.   -John Palley Top […]

Today I personally filed a Covid probate case here in my home county of Placer county. That is at the Courthouse here in Roseville.   I thought a lot of you would be interested in my filing a Covid probate case in Placer County California. I want to get through the specific details of how a […]

I received a question the other day which I modified to protect the identity of the person.  They asked: Hi.  My uncle recently passed with my dad (his brother) as his closest relative and few assets.  His estate qualifies as a “small estate” under California law.  I cannot find any resources about how to treat […]

The last chapter I have partially written for my second probate book is below. Remember you can get my first probate book on Amazon or email me for a free PDF. Chapter 12 – Letters Testamentary (and Letters of Administration)   The holy grail of the probate process is the “Letters” document. In California it […]