The law has developed a system that protects and sometimes directs the distribution of property on a person's death. Probate is the system that controls the distribution of the probate estate to heirs and beneficiaries, the payment of debts, and the resolution of disputes and claims against the estate. You have right to leave your property on your death in almost any manner you choose. Anyone may decide, subject to certain obligations to provide for a current spouse and children, who will receive our property after our lives. These decisions, if you want them to be carried out must be reflected in a valid will or some other legal document like a trust; otherwise, the laws of the state will decide how your property will be divided. Some people belive that if you die without a will or trust your assets will go to the State. However, for those people who dies without any will or trust, and are "intestate," statutes in the California Probate Code provide a method of distribution to your blood relation.s Whether or not you decide to exercise your right make a will and/or a trust, the division and transfer of the property that is part of your "probate estate" (meaning property not in a trust) can be done only by the Probate Court. Furthermore, although a trustee generally can administer trust assets free from court supervision, to the extent that the trustee seeks instructions or disputes arise regarding the trust terms, the Probate Court determines those matters as well. |