How to probate an estate in California should you be brave enough to attempt the process.

The untimely passing of music superstar Prince was a shock to all who grew up with his music. As an attorney, one of the first things you assume is that he most certainly had extensive estate planning. He was surrounded by attorneys and money managers who would have pressured him to plan. Prince owned copyrights to his music, had a valuable public brand and name, and had an estate large enough to be subject to estate tax. The Los Angeles Times reported that Prince's est

We have had two cases in the last couple of years where one of the attorneys from our office had to spend days sitting with the disputing relatives in estate cases while they took turns going through personal property and effects of their relative. Not only was this emotional for the parties but costly from a legal fee standpoint. The parties required it since without cousel present, it could not be accomplished for a variety of reasons. A recent New York Times article b

Many clients understand the concept of going to court or "suing" someone, and that a lawsuit can result in a trial before a judge or jury. However, not as many know that (i) in probate courts, which hear all estate and trust disputes, there is no jury, and (ii) there is a strong preference among the probate court judges that the parties attempt to mediate a matter before a trial will be scheduled. What is mediation? Well, in a non-legal sense any negotiation between two peop