We have now been in probate for over three years. Three years! Believe it or not, in all this time, I have never stepped foot inside probate court. Technically, I still haven’t, but I did have my first experience through Zoom this week. It was not pretty and very frustrating.

Probate Court is Full of Sad Stories

In Riverside County, you may attend probate court via Zoom. My lawyer asked to use this option, so I showed up to her office at 8:45am when we were required to call in. We were number 14 on the docket which gave us the opportunity to listen to several cases before ours. One was incredibly heartbreaking and concerned an elderly woman.

It appeared that this woman’s husband had passed, and her son had somehow sold her home for $187,000 and kept the money. I am not sure if he was the executor of the will as he was not in court. The judge was brisk and wanted to open the probate case and move on, but the woman kept talking. She expressed concern that with her advanced age she may soon need to enter assisted care. The money from the sale of her house was needed to pay her bills. It was apparent the relationship between her and her son was not good.

She asked how long this was all going to take. The judge answered that the next step was for the executor to prepare an inventory which would take four months. After that, it would be a minimum of a year before she would see any of the money. Her response? A tearful “oh my!”

The judge emphasized several times this was why you should avoid probate at all costs.

The Imaginary Lawyer is Real

Now to my story. My sister reached out to me by text several weeks before the court date saying she hired an attorney. She often claimed to have a lawyer, but they would never materialize. I still alerted my lawyer to be on the lookout for a letter from this so-called attorney. When the letter was never received, we chalked it up to her imagination or another manic episode.

When the judge called our case, our Zoom did not work. No one in the courtroom could hear us or see us. The judge assumed we were not present. As my sister was physically there, she pounced on the moment to tell some untruths including she had not been able to make contact with my lawyer. I guess she forgot about the two weeks of crazy emails exchanged with my lawyer the month before.

After a few frantic moments, we got Zoom up and working and joined the conversation. My sister’s face fell when she saw I was there. She then rambled on about how her lawyer was unable to get her objections to us in time. “What lawyer?” we thought. Then, as if someone had rubbed a genie’s lamp, a new face appeared on Zoom claiming to be her representative. He gave his name and announced he was not actually my sister’s attorney, but was hired as a stand-in. I felt shock. Now what?

The stand-in asked for a continuance as the new lawyer had not yet had time to review the probate documents.

Another Continuance

I felt my stomach drop. My sister droned on about needing business records and questioning the valuation of my father’s truck. Jumping in, my lawyer pointed out a probate referee determined the value of the entire estate, not us. I held my breath as she continued challenging my sister. Her office delivered bank statements to my sister years ago. My sister already possessed everything she was requesting. What was there to look over?

The judge then said something that made me want to scream. He admitted he had been ready to grant the probate order, meaning probate would be over, but to be cautious, he was ordering one more continuance. We asked for an early date. He insisted they would need time and said no. The next court date would be four months away. Four months! For what? To rack up more court costs?

My sister doesn’t even realize she shot herself in the foot. Remember the inheritance lending companies I spoke of in my previous blog post? Well, to receive the last available rebate, the amount of the inheritance she sold off needs to be repaid with fees by the first week of April. Our next court date is May 14th. She just lost another $4000.

The only saving grace is the judge ordered all objections to be filed with the court by April 2nd. This will give us time to respond. The judge already made it clear that barring some unforeseen discovery, he is ready to end this in May. Fingers crossed it happens.