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My single daughter recently passed away, leaving a 2 year old daughter. Her father was listed on her birth cert. I heard from my daughter's work insurance company that there is a 401K and a work life insurance policy, with supplements of 6 times amount, left to my grandaughter. These funds are not in any trust or blocked account for her. How can I get them in a blocked account so that her father cannot access them unless a dire emergency for my grandaughter.He has not worked for the past 2 1/2 years, worked only part-time for 10 years at Knott's earning minimum wage. For most of the past 11 years, she supported or supplemented his income, paid most of the bills. I'm afraid he will go through that like water. On the other hand, I have been financially responsible for my mother for the past 8 years, handled my sister's financial assets that she could access prior to her death, and have so far $4300 in an account for my grandaughter. Unfortunately, I am on a pension and cannot afford much. My home, car payment, and utilities take up most of my check.I heard that I should represent myself in probate, but I don't know what to do. Can you assist? at least by giving me directions on what to do?
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: California Already Tried: I spoke w/Probate atty and he said I don't have enough for guardianship, unless police record, alcoholic, drug addict, etc. However, I still need to guard her assets until she reaches 18.
Did your daughter have any other assets? If so, what were they? What about debts?Also, I will be signing off in a few minutes but will pick up and continue tomorrow morning.
She has a life ins policy thru her union with beneficiary of the father. Otherwise, rest is with her 2 year old daughter. She co-owns a van and is the owner of a honda civic which is in her name only and paid. I plan to go to DMV to get the car transferred in my name as her parent. She owed student loans, but they have forgiven her after sending in certified copy of death report. She owes nothing further.
The easiest way is to open a probate over the estate. Normally you wouldn't have to do it with those few assets but in this case if you open a probate you can ask the court to deposit the funds that will be coming to the child into "the registry of the court" until the child is 18. The company may require that anyway since they don't usually write checks to minors. If you do that process then the money will be protected.You could do it yourself but probate is extremely difficult and time consuming if you don't know what you're doing because the laws are antiquated and a lot of the time make no sense. You would be much much better off hiring a lawyer. For a case like this it shouldn't be very expensive.If you would like any additional information or have more questions please don’t hesitate to ask but please do so my clicking on the Reply to Expert tab.We work for Positive Ratings, please click on one of the top three ratings or one of the Smile Faces, as this would be appreciated. We have recently implemented a new rating and feedback system. Please be aware that you are rating my courtesy and service as a professional, and not necessarily whether you like the information that you are receiving. Please bear in mind I can’t control what the law is and whether it helps you, I can only tell you what it says, and I assume you want truthful information.PLEASE DO NOT use the rating system to ask for more information or in an attempt to tell the website that you didn’t like the substance of the answer as it gives a NEGATIVE rating to me personally if your rating is one of the lower two.I believe in giving information that is to the point, but please remember that I can only base our answers on the information you provide and sometimes a misunderstanding as to what you are looking for or already know occurs so feel free to ask additional questions or for clarifications. Be very careful about looking at other internet sites that just post generic information without any inquiry into your facts because often those answers are dated, wrong, or wrong as applied to your facts. Please be aware that my answer is not legal advice, it is merely information. You should always contact a local attorney for legal advice.Several customers have asked how they direct a question to me in particular. If you specifically want me to provide information for you just put “FOR JD 1992” in the subject line and I will pick up the next time I am online.
Atty said that I could do it myself, but I am unsure. Do I just appear in court or is there paperwork I must file with the court at some point?
There's a lot of paperwork. People can do it themselves but I have never seen anyone do it right the first time, they usually show up at court and the judge fusses at them because it's not right. He can't tell them how to fix it so then they go back and try different things and what should take a month or so and one court appearance ends up taking a year and three or four court appearances.You definitely should talk to a couple of lawyers and get some prices.If you would like any additional information or have more questions please don’t hesitate to ask but please do so my clicking on the Reply to Expert tab.We work for Positive Ratings, please click on one of the top three ratings or one of the Smile Faces, as this would be appreciated. We have recently implemented a new rating and feedback system. Please be aware that you are rating my courtesy and service as a professional, and not necessarily whether you like the information that you are receiving. Please bear in mind I can’t control what the law is and whether it helps you, I can only tell you what it says, and I assume you want truthful information.PLEASE DO NOT use the rating system to ask for more information or in an attempt to tell the website that you didn’t like the substance of the answer as it gives a NEGATIVE rating to me personally if your rating is one of the lower two.I believe in giving information that is to the point, but please remember that I can only base our answers on the information you provide and sometimes a misunderstanding as to what you are looking for or already know occurs so feel free to ask additional questions or for clarifications. Be very careful about looking at other internet sites that just post generic information without any inquiry into your facts because often those answers are dated, wrong, or wrong as applied to your facts. Please be aware that my answer is not legal advice, it is merely information. You should always contact a local attorney for legal advice.Several customers have asked how they direct a question to me in particular. If you specifically want me to provide information for you just put “FOR JD 1992” in the subject line and I will pick up the next time I am online.
Experience: Estate Law Expert