Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Wiil/Trust -vs-Beneficiary status

If the bank account was a "pay on death" account, aka a Totten trust, the bank's duty is to disburse the funds to the beneficiaries. If the account had just your father-in-law's name on it, or the trust's, then your wife would control the funds as executor or trustee.

Re: Wiil/Trust -vs-Beneficiary status

Your question does not contain enough facts for an accurate answer. Often, a person will create a trust during life, but not place all of his/her property into it. When this happens, the property not in the trust cannot be transferred into the trust without some kind of additional authorization--such as a pour-over clause in a will that is submitted to a court probate proceeding. At the same time, a person can hold property--such as bank accounts--in such a way as to vest title to the property immediately in a beneficiary at the time of death. Thus, a bank account may be made "payable on death" or may be held jointly with right of survivorship. In this case, the account would be immediately paid to the survivor; it would not be part of the estate of the person who died and it should not be part of any probate proceeding. This is general information--not advice specific to your own case. I recommend that you refer these issues to an attorney to obtain the proper advice on your particular situation, to determine what is and is not part of the estate, and to find out whether probate proceedings are necessary.