non-traditional relationships with no will in California

Dear Len & Rosie,

I am a senior gent whose lady friend died almost a year ago without a will. We had lived together in California for 18 years. Everything she had was in joint accounts with me. But I later discovered an annuity she had overlooked and no doubt forgotten about. The beneficiaries of the annuity have been dead for years. She has no living relatives except for a couple of half-nephews in Nebraska she has not seen in over thirty years. Since I was closest to her and I took care her, could I be appointed executor so I can get the annuity? I have no idea what it’s worth.

Tom

Dear Tom,

Today, non-traditional relationships are as common as marriage. Unfortunately for you, the law hasn’t been updated to take your relationship into account regarding the disposition of your lady friend’s estate. If all of the beneficiaries named in the annuity are deceased, then the annuity pays into her probate estate. Since there’s no will, the probate estate goes to your friend’s blood relatives, and you’re not one of them.

There’s no such thing as common law marriage in the State of California, and that means your legal rights against your friend’s estate are the same as that of any friend, neighbor, casual acquaintance, and stranger. The only claim you have against her estate is if she owed you money. But it’s not enough for you to show that you provided her care and that you ought to be compensated for it - you have to show that she promised to pay you and that she really owes you the money.

What can you do? You could file for probate - if the annuity is worth more than $150,000, then it must be probated in the courts. You may be appointed as administrator of the estate, which is the same as being an executor except there’s no will. This assumes that those with a higher priority of appointment (her nephews) don’t object. You would be paid administrator fees, but that’s not much money at all. Whether or not you are the administrator, you will have the opportunity to submit a creditor’s claim for any money due to you.

What this really means is that unless the nephews are particularly generous and compassionate, you do not likely have a very good claim against the annuity.

How could this have been avoided? She should have updated her annuity beneficiary designation. Or she could have made will leaving her estate to you. Because she did neither, the annuity slipped through the cracks.

If you or any of our other readers would like to make a will, do an internet search for “California Statutory Form Will” and a download link will be in the search results. While you are at it, you should also have a durable general powers of attorney and an advance health care directives so that important legal, financial and medical decisions can be made if you are ever incapacitated.

Len & Rosie