Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

The State takes property only if no rightful heirs can be found. There are plenty of heirs around.

No, his children are his intestate heirs.

The Probate Code has provisions for deciding who gets the property and assets of anyone who dies without a will. The state never gets it unless there are absolutely no next of kin to be found. Mr. Cusack assumes his children would get the property under the code. That may or may not be true. The information you gave is not sufficient to make the determination. Unfortunately, without a will, it won't necessarily go to who he wanted to get it either. The code will govern who gets it.

California has a doctrine known as the laws of intestate succession. What that means is that if the property goes through probate, it goes to a set of heirs determined by statute. The only way that it would go to the state is if it either: a) escheated, in which it was unclaimed and their were no heirs or b) taxes were not paid and it was sold at a tax foreclosure sale.