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Q: Declining an inheritance in CA ( Answered,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Declining an inheritance in CA
Category: Reference, Education and News
Asked by: phil900-ga
List Price: $15.00
Posted: 06 May 2006 16:03 PDT
Expires: 05 Jun 2006 16:03 PDT
Question ID: 726152
In  California, if I am listed in a will, am I legally obligated to
accept my inheritance?  Can I decline to accept anything that my
parents may have left to me?  More specifically, my parents' estate
was left to me and my brothers in a trust and I would like to remove
myself from the trust, as if I hadn't been listed in the trust at all.
 Can I do this?
Answer  
Subject: Re: Declining an inheritance in CA
Answered By: pinkfreud-ga on 06 May 2006 17:32 PDT
 
It is possible, under California law, to decline an inheritance by
means of a disclaimer. This is normally done shortly after the death
of the benefactor, before the assets have been delivered to the
beneficiary.

"Certain requirements are necessary to disclaim assets at death. These include: 

1. The disclaimer must be irrevocable and delivered to the executor or
person who has the assets that are being disclaimed.

2. The disclaimer must be executed and delivered within nine months of
the date of death.

3. The disclaimer must be executed before the party disclaiming
receives any of the benefits. One cannot disclaim assets after having
received them...

The disclaiming must be done promptly and in accordance with federal
and California law."

Milton Berry Scott: Disclaimers
http://www.mbscott.com/disclaim.htm

"Requirements for a valid disclaimer: 

1. It must be in writing.

2. It must be an irrevocable and unqualified refusal to accept an
interest in the asset.

3. It must be delivered to the executor within nine months of the date of death.

4. The person signing the disclaimer must not have accepted the asset,
or any benefit from the asset, such as rent, dividends or interest.

5. The person signing the disclaimer cannot direct to whom the
interest in the property will pass. The decedent's estate plan must
determine to whom the property will pass. If there is no estate plan,
California intestacy law will determine to whom the property will
pass."

Law Office of Stephen C. Gruber: Disclaimers
http://www.ca-trusts.com/disclaimer.html

"In California, a disclaimer can only be made of an 'interest' in property
(Cal. Probate Code section 265): an interest includes an interest created by
intestate succession. However, a disclaimer must be delivered to the
creator of the interest. A qualified disclaimer must be made within 9
months of the creation of the interest. In this case, an interest hasn't
been created yet, since daughter hasn't died. At most, all the mother has
is an expectancy interest in the inheritance. I don't think it rises to the
level of a property interest yet. Since daughter has not died, who can the
mother deliver the disclaimer to? The daughter. No. It would normally be
the executor, but none's been appointed since the daughter's still alive. I
think you'll have difficult doing an advance disclaimer on an intestate
share of an estate until the creator dies." 

List Archives: Advance Disclaimer
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0308&L=aba-ptl-pub&P=41800

Here you will find links to portions of the California Probate Code
which are relevant to a disclaimer of interest:

CALIFORNIA CODES: PROBATE CODE
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=prob&codebody=disclaimer+of+interest&hits=All

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: california "disclaim an inheritance"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=california+%22disclaim+an+inheritance%22

I hope this is helpful! The material that I've gathered here should be
viewed as general information. If you seek details related to a
specific situation or case, please consult an attorney. Do keep in
mind that Google Answers is not a source of authoritative legal
advice.

Best regards,
pinkfreud
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