The simplest way to see that your wealth and personal belongings are distributed according to your wishes is to prepare a will. A will is an important document and the law is strict about all its details. This is because the Testator is no longer alive to declare his wishes while implementing a will.
Usually wills can be prepared by individuals over the age of 18 who are of sound mind and judgment. The will must name an executor, or else the state will appoint someone else as the probate proceedings start. A parent must name a guardian for minor children to avoid state intervention. The testator must also carefully choose his beneficiaries, clearly indicating their names in the will.
After the demise of a person, proceedings start to execute his will and distribute his wealth and assets. A procedure that has been popularized and immortalized by movies and mystery novels is that of ‘reading of a will’.
In books and movies, after a person’s death, his family solemnly gathers in the lawyer’s office. The will is then read out to them by the lawyer in an atmosphere of great suspense, tension and simmering discontent.
But this scene is far from reality and just an element of fiction. The realty is that there is no legal requirement for such an official reading-out function after the death of the testator. In fact, lawyers will sometimes send copies of the will to the heirs.
The only legal requirement is that the will must be filed with the County Clerk’s office, in the county where the deceased lived. After the will is filed, it becomes a public document and can be viewed by anyone who goes to this office.
If the probate is held, the will becomes part of the probate file. If not, it is kept as a separate file. There is no such thing as an official “reading" of a trust. Nevertheless, if the trust has become irrevocable due to death, the successor trustee is required to notify the beneficiaries and heirs about the demise so that they can request copies of the trust and its amendments.
In the legal world, there is no need to read the will aloud to anyone. However the attorney must be consulted before anybody wants to do anything with the deceased person’s assets. The will might need to be probated, implying that a court will supervise the collection of assets, payment of bills and taxes and distribution of wealth to the heirs.
In California, if the will is not probated, the person inheriting the assets will be personally liable to the creditors, the IRS and the State.
So next time you watch a suspenseful moment in a mystery movie with a gathering for the reading of a will, just remember that it is just a piece of fiction!
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