Practical questions about a relative’s unexpected death
September 4, 2024 12:15 PM Subscribe
A relative died unexpectedly in the US, in California, which is a different state from where his driver’s license lists as his address (Massachusetts). The executor (my partner) lives in neither of those states. We are currently staying in California trying to figure out logistics and have a couple questions.
The relative died in one county in California. The CA county he died in was different from the CA county where he was most recently living/staying. He had been living in California less than a year. His driver’s license has a Massachusetts address. The executor has the will, driver’s license, car, and car title. The executor lives in another state and is currently temporarily staying in a California city near where the deceased lived. The estate size appears to be small enough to fall under the CA small estate property transfer affidavit requirements although the death was last week so it has been fewer than 40 days since it occurred.
- Does the executor need to lodge/file the will with the court in California? the relative was most recently staying with a sibling in CA and his car is registered in CA although his driver’s license is from Massachusetts.
- If the executor does not need to lodge the will in CA, does the executor need to do something in Massachusetts instead?
- If the executor does need to lodge the will in CA, does it need to be in the court in the county where he died? Or the county where he was most recently living?
- The car has California plates. Does the title transfer need to happen at a California DMV or could this theoretically be done at any DMV in any state? Does the executor need to be the one to go transfer the car title in person? or if a non-executor relative in CA was going to take the car, would they be able to do the transfer once the executor leaves town (assuming the executor can get a copy of the death certificate to the relative before leaving)?
- The property transfer affidavit on the CA courts website appears to require 40 days since the death in order to do anything. Assuming all the property transfer and estate stuff needs to happen in CA and not MA, is there a way we can do anything within the next few days instead of waiting so long?
Thanks so much.
The relative died in one county in California. The CA county he died in was different from the CA county where he was most recently living/staying. He had been living in California less than a year. His driver’s license has a Massachusetts address. The executor has the will, driver’s license, car, and car title. The executor lives in another state and is currently temporarily staying in a California city near where the deceased lived. The estate size appears to be small enough to fall under the CA small estate property transfer affidavit requirements although the death was last week so it has been fewer than 40 days since it occurred.
- Does the executor need to lodge/file the will with the court in California? the relative was most recently staying with a sibling in CA and his car is registered in CA although his driver’s license is from Massachusetts.
- If the executor does not need to lodge the will in CA, does the executor need to do something in Massachusetts instead?
- If the executor does need to lodge the will in CA, does it need to be in the court in the county where he died? Or the county where he was most recently living?
- The car has California plates. Does the title transfer need to happen at a California DMV or could this theoretically be done at any DMV in any state? Does the executor need to be the one to go transfer the car title in person? or if a non-executor relative in CA was going to take the car, would they be able to do the transfer once the executor leaves town (assuming the executor can get a copy of the death certificate to the relative before leaving)?
- The property transfer affidavit on the CA courts website appears to require 40 days since the death in order to do anything. Assuming all the property transfer and estate stuff needs to happen in CA and not MA, is there a way we can do anything within the next few days instead of waiting so long?
Thanks so much.
You can transfer a CA vehicle title entirely online, no need to show up in person. It's even possible to transfer to a third party, e.g. the non-executor relative. The CA DMV site walks you through it pretty well. There's an extra form it will have you fill out that says the owner is deceased. On the signature lines, the executor should sign their own name and then print "for [deceased name]". When I went through this recently I also printed my own name, so it was "[my signature] [my printed name] for [deceased name]". Be sure to include the name of the deceased on the signature line exactly as it is printed on the existing title. DMV is very particular about this detail.
As for the rest, I believe the most important factor in where to file (or not file) probate is where the property is. If the deceased owned real estate, you should file probate in the county where the real estate is located. If they didn't own real estate and the rest of the estate is under the "small estate" cutoff, then it sounds like you don't need to file probate anywhere, just use the property transfer affidavit.
On the general topic of what authorities to notify, you might also consider calling the Social Security Administration. The funeral home is supposed to do this, but sometimes they don't. If SSA paid anything into the deceased's accounts after they died, it will take them a while (months) to get their books straight and take that money back.
posted by the charms of plurality at 2:48 PM on September 4
As for the rest, I believe the most important factor in where to file (or not file) probate is where the property is. If the deceased owned real estate, you should file probate in the county where the real estate is located. If they didn't own real estate and the rest of the estate is under the "small estate" cutoff, then it sounds like you don't need to file probate anywhere, just use the property transfer affidavit.
On the general topic of what authorities to notify, you might also consider calling the Social Security Administration. The funeral home is supposed to do this, but sometimes they don't. If SSA paid anything into the deceased's accounts after they died, it will take them a while (months) to get their books straight and take that money back.
posted by the charms of plurality at 2:48 PM on September 4
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posted by MadMadam at 12:20 PM on September 4