Lodging a Will

If a person passes away with a will, the will's custodian is obligated to lodge the will with the superior court in the county in which the decedent resided within 30 days of knowing that the decedent passed away and to deliver a copy of the will to the nominated executor, or a beneficiary if the executor cannot be located and a beneficiary can be located. Probate Code §8200(a). 

Periodically I have been involved in cases in which a disinherited heir raises strenuous objections about the will not being lodged within 30 days. These objections are almost invariably rooted in emotion rather than logic. It is hard to foresee the monetary damage caused to a disinherited heir if a will is lodged 25 days after death as opposed to 90 days after death. If the will is valid, the disinherited party will receive nothing from the estate. Therefore, the financial position of the disinherited heir will not change one iota regardless of when the will is filed. Furthermore, lodging the will after 30 days does not invalidate the will. A recent unpublished appellate opinion addressed this issue.

"The decedent, Artis Mae Myrick Finn, died on March 20, 2021. Two days later, a relative notified Crandall, who lived out of state. Crandall then spoke with Myrick, who also lived out of state."

"On April 8, Laura filed a petition to probate Finn's estate. She filed the 1983 will and 1991 codicil with the trial court on May 13—fifty-three days after Finn's death." 

"On the other hand, we agree with Myrick that we can review de novo his contention about untimely filings of the will and codicil because it is based on an undisputed timeline. Myrick correctly notes that Finn's will and codicil were filed in the trial court more than 30 days after her death. (§ 8200, subd. (a).)^[6] He concludes that, because the documents were filed untimely, they "[t]herefore, . . . should not have been admitted into evidence."

But Myrick cites no case law requiring a trial court to exclude an untimely filed will, and we have not found any ourselves. Nor has he shown any arguable error was prejudicial. Indeed, the statute itself suggests the only remedy for untimely filing is a claim for money damages for proximately caused harm. (§ 8200, subd. (b); see County of Los Angeles v. Nobel Ins. Co. (2000) 84 Cal.App.4th 939, 945 ["`appellant bears the duty of spelling out in his brief exactly how the error caused a miscarriage of justice'"].)"

Estate of Artis Mae Myrick Finn, Orange County Superior Court case no. 30-2021-01194661