Ask Me Help Desk - Who inherits the deceased in California when there is no Will, nor inheritors?

Who inherits the deceased in California when there is no Will, nor inheritors?

I am looking for the inheritors of a person who died in Orange county, California, in 1994. It seems that the person probably died without a Will, and there seemed to be no inheritors. Approaching the Orange County clerk and the Office of the Attorney General of California yielded the same disappointing answer of "no records found".

The questions are:
1. Who inherits such a person in California?
2. How do I find out who actually inherited that person?
3. As it is possible that there was no appreciable or valuable estate at the time of death, is it possible the nobody was declared the inheritor? In which case, who is entitled to the inheritance? And can they be declared now the inheritors?
4. How can I enforce the issue and create an "official inheritor" of the estate of the deceased person, so that her estate will be settled legally.

Thank you,

Hanoch Shalit, Ph.D.

What's in the estate? I believe that, if no inheritors come forward, eventually the state will get any assets of the estate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

What's in the estate? I believe that, if no inheritors come forward, eventually the state will get any assets of the estate.

Thank you,
The Estate at the time of death was probably minimal, approaching zero $. I assumed that the State finally inherits in such cases, however, having "no documentations" response from the relevant (?) authorities put me in a dead end.

Is it possible that there is no documentation trail as to who inherited the person? Can it be done now?

What is your legal relationship to the deceased, interest or claim to the Estate?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

What is your legal relationship to the deceased, interest or claim to the Estate?

We are partners in a new inheritance and I have to find the inheritors of the deceased for the new inheritance procedure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanoch Shalit

We are partners in a new inheritance and I have to find the inheritors of the deceased for the new inheritance procedure.

What? Who is "we" and what is a "new inheritance"?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

What? Who is "we" and what is a "new inheritance"?

"we" are I and the Inheritor of the deceased. The "new inheritance" is an inheritance that we are both entitled to, provided that we both show up to request it.

If there was no will, and no assets, chances are that there was no need to begin a probate proceeding to determine the heirs of the deceased. Thus you found no record.

If you now need to determine the identity of the heir, perhaps in another jurisdiction I'm guessing, you would look to the intestacy statute in California (if that was the place of residence of the deceased). That would tell you who would be the heirs of the deceased. I'm afraid I don't have the time to look it up right now, but usually it would be the surviving spouse, children, parents, siblings etc. in that order. If none of those persons existed at the time of death, you would have to look for more distant relatives. All of that takes research, which we can't do without a lot more information.

I did have time to look it up -

What Happens if You Don't Have a Will or Trust?

If someone dies without a will or trust, they die "intestate" and the laws of intestate succession are used to determine who will inherit the estate. In California, who will receive the estate depends on answering a series of questions about the person who died.

1. The first question is whether the decedent (the person who died) was married.

A. If the decedent was not married, the estate is distributed as follows:
1. To the decedent's children, who take in equal shares if they are in the same generation.
2. If there are no children or other issue (issue is the legal term for children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.) living, the estate goes to the decedent's parents.
3. If there are no parents living, the estate is distributed to the "issue of the parents." If the decedent had brothers or sisters, they will inherit the estate.
4. If there are no brothers or sisters, the decedent's grandparents will inherit the estate.
5. If there are no grandparents, then the "issue of the grandparents" will inherit the estate. This could include the decedent's aunts and uncles, or if there aren't any aunts and uncles, the decedent's cousins.
6. If there are no cousins, Probate Code section 6402 provides that the estate will be distributed to "next of kin in equal degree," generally meaning more distant cousins.

B. If the decedent was married, the first question is whether the decedent owned community property, separate property, or a combination of the two. Community property is generally defined as the assets acquired during marriage from earnings or salary. Separate property is generally defined as assets brought into the marriage when the decedent got married, inheritances to the decedent, or gifts to the decedent. However, California case law provides many exceptions to these definitions, and assets can change from community to separate property, or from separate to community, by combining assets, by improving separate property with community property, or by written agreement of the spouses, for example.

1. The decedent's community property goes to the surviving spouse, who may have to file a spousal property petition to establish ownership.
2. The decedent's separate property is distributed as follows:
a. The surviving spouse receives all of the separate property if the decedent is not survived by issue, parents, brothers, sisters, or children of a deceased brother or sister.
b. The surviving spouse receives one-half of the separate property if the decedent had only one child, or issue of a deceased child.
c. The surviving spouse receives one-half of the separate property if the decedent left no issue, but left parent(s) or their issue.
d. The surviving spouse receives only one-third of the separate property if the decedent left more than one child.
e. The surviving spouse receives only one-third of the separate property if the decedent left one child and the issue of one or more deceased children.
f. The surviving spouse receives only one-third of the separate property if the decedent left the issue of two or more deceased children.
Dying Without a Will

Quote:

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

If there was no will, and no assets, chances are that there was no need to begin a probate proceeding to determine the heirs of the deceased. Thus you found no record.

If you now need to determine the identity of the heir, perhaps in another jurisdiction I'm guessing, you would look to the intestacy statute in California (if that was the place of residence of the deceased). That would tell you who would be the heirs of the deceased. I'm afraid I don't have the time to look it up right now, but usually it would be the surviving spouse, children, parents, siblings etc., in that order. If none of those persons existed at the time of death, you would have to look for more distant relatives. All of that takes research, which we can't do without a lot more information.

Thank you. The issue here is that there is no Will and no relatives. The deceased was the sole survivor of the Holocaust. In this case, who inherits her, and how to find it out, or enforce inheritance proceedings? The death occurred (and residence of the deceased was) in California, but I do not care where the inheritors will be declared.

If the deceased had no relatives, why do you think you are entitled to inherit?

And the answer is that the estate goes to the Government (the State).

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

If the deceased had no relatives, why do you think you are entitled to inherit?

And the answer is that the estate goes to the Government (the State).

I do not think that I am entitled to inherit, however, I want to know who did. If the estate goes to the government (assuming it is the State of California, where death occured) then why there are no records at the County clerk and at he attorney general of California?
How can I find out who inherited? And if no procedures of inheritance were made, how can I request them?

Are you reading the answers?

"If there was no will, and no assets, chances are that there was no need to begin a probate proceeding to determine the heirs of the deceased. Thus you found no record." - AK Attorney.

If you have no interest what is this about? "we" are I and the Inheritor of the deceased. The "new inheritance" is an inheritance that we are both entitled to, provided that we both show up to request it."

It occurs to me that the OT may be nibbling on a baited hook of a Nigerian scam.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

It occurs to me that the OT may be nibbling on a baited hook of a Nigerian scam.

This is not a scam, nor is it related to a scam of any kind. Why don't you attempt to respond to the genuine question (or problem of Law) instead on speculating on the motives of the inquiree? It is a question of Law: Who inherits, and how to start the right procedure to determine the inheritor? All the details are already spelled in previous responses. Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanoch Shalit

This is not a scam, nor is it related to a scam of any kind. Why don't you attempt to respond to the genuine question (or problem of Law) instead on speculating on the motives of the inquiree? It is a question of Law: Who inherits, and how to start the right procedure to determine the inheritor? All the details are already spelled in previous responses. Thank you.

The law was given to you in post #9. As to finding out how inherits that is a genealogy exercise. One has to find relatives, no matter how distant.

As to the speculation, you gave rise to that by your cryptic answers to why you are involved. You say you are partnered with the Inheritor so you seem to already know who that is yet ask how to find such a person. You also said there are almost no assets, so it gives rise to the question of why this is a big deal. When you are cryptic and evasive about details, it certainly justifies speculation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

The law was given to you in post #9. As to finding out how inherits that is a genealogy exercise. One has to find relatives, no matter how distant.

As to the speculation, you gave rise to that by your cryptic answers to why you are involved. You say you are partnered with the Inheritor so you seem to already know who that is yet ask how to find such a person. You also said there are almost no assets, so it gives rise to the question of why this is a big deal. When you are cryptic and evasive about details, it certainly justifies speculation.

Thank you for your guidance. It was suggested that the State is the inheritor in this case. However, if there are no documentations with the State, it suggests that the procedure of deciding who is the inheritor, and how the dispense of the inheritance was not made. How can I start (or request) such a procedure (knowing that the deceased died in 1994)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hanoch Shalit

Thank you for your guidance. It was suggested that the State is the inheritor in this case. However, if there are no documentations with the State, it suggests that the procedure of deciding who is the inheritor, and how the dispense of the inheritance was not made. How can I start (or request) such a procedure (knowing that the deceased died in 1994)?

If there were no significant assets, the state's escheat mechanism would not have been invoked. Thus the absence of any record. If you have found assets, no doubt the state would be interested in knowing about them.

When I speculated that this may be a scam, I was suggesting that someone may be trying to scam you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

If there were no significant assets, the state's escheat mechanism would not have been invoked. Thus the absence of any record. If you have found assets, no doubt the state would be interested in knowing about them.

When I speculated that this may be a scam, I was suggesting that someone may be trying to scam you.

Thank you again. As I stated before, I know it is not a scam, as I was not approach by anybody to do this. I agree that the State, who should be the ultimate inheritor, should be interested in a newly found inheritance. My specific question is
1. Whom to approach, and how to deal with it, and
2. How to minimize my own expenses (although I should benefit by getting what is due to me for my part, the State should pay what for its part.).

You might want to read this and this.