Bieber, CA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

The administrator is bound to follow the terms of the last properly-executed will, and the will that is admitted to probate. If an heir feels that the will is not being followed, then the heir must file a petition in the probate court to order the administrator to follow the will's terms.

Whether your mother has any interest in this property depends upon how the six sons of your grandfather owned the property: If the six sons owned the property as joint tenants with right of survivorship then your mother and you have no interest as the ownership of the property vests in the remaining siblings on the death of one of them. In this scenario, the last surviving brother would own the entire property. If, on the other hand, the brothers owned the property as tenants in common then each of the brothers would own an undivided one-sixth of the property. On the death of a brother his one-sixth would, in the absence of a will disposing of the interest otherwise, go to that brother's heirs at law at the time of his death. Assuming you and your mother are your father's only heirs at law, you would each own an undivided 1/12th (one twelfth) of the property. This does you little good unless you file a law suit to "partition the property" or all owners agree to sell the property and divide the net proceeds.

You are supposed to be notified if you are a named beneficiary or a designated executor. If a probate action has been filed in court, the will had to be filed also, generally within thirty days of death,, with a copy attached to the petition for probate.