Dear Judy,
I reside in California. I am now a widowed ex-spouse with two minor children. Their Dad and I shared custody, they were very close to him as he was very involved in their lives. He committed suicide one evening after the children and I dropped him off at home. It was shocking to everyone. My heart hurts everyday with devastation for my children!
After he killed himself, my ex-spouse’s brother, sister in law, and parents immediately started taking items from his home. To make this a little shorter, they have the majority of his belongings and my children’s personal items. They believe they are next of kin because the children are minors. I am their legal guardian and I may act on behalf of my children to insure they receive their father’s assets. My children were very accustomed to elaborate, expensive life style.
Could you please answer who is to receive kinship rights in California? My children already lost their father, but do they have to lose everything he worked for and provided?
In need of answers
Marie Therese
Dear Marie Therese,
For a professional answer to your dilemma, I forwarded your email to the brilliant Maryland estate lawyer, Marc Levine. He has easy access to legal information concerning inheritance law in California — and elsewhere. Here is his response, and I’m going to ask you — and every reader with a similar inheritance issue — to pay special attention to his advice in the last paragraph. It’s vital:
§ 6402. Intestate share of heirs other than surviving spouse or domestic partner
Except as provided in Section 6402.5, the part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 37, under Section 6401, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse or domestic partner, passes as follows:
(a) To the issue of the decedent, the issue taking equally if they are all of the same degree of kinship to the decedent, but if of unequal degree those of more remote degree take in the manner provided in Section 240.
(b) If there is no surviving issue, to the decedent’s parent or parents equally.
(c) If there is no surviving issue or parent, to the issue of the parents or either of them, the issue taking equally if they are all of the same degree of kinship to the decedent, but if of unequal degree those of more remote degree take in the manner provided in Section 240.
6402(a) seems to apply here. As you see, it says nothing about the age of the issue. I strongly suggest that she contact an attorney familiar with California probate and see if she has standing, as the guardian/parent of the heirs to open the probate and get appointed as the Executor, or to have a neutral third party appointed. And I would act quickly if I were her.
