Assemblyman claims senator blocking house bill

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore just wants to make sure that bequeathing one’s home to loved ones is easy and free for Californians, but the lawyers serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee have bottled up his legislation to “protect” their own.

Assembly Bill 250 would make California the 10th state to offer residents a simple “Revocable Transfer on Death Deed,” which carries the legal weight of a final will and testament, but can be drafted and notarized without spending thousands of dollars in legal fees, DeVore said.

“The bill would have you fill out a notarized form that says in the event of your death, your home goes to such and such — whoever you want,” he said. “You wouldn’t need an attorney for it, and that’s a big help for a lot of seniors who aren’t necessarily cash rich.”

The bill unanimously passed both the Assembly Judiciary and Appropriations Committees, and even passed the Assembly floor without a single “no” vote, though it has since languished in the Senate Judiciary Committee for nearly a year.

DeVore attributes that anomaly to the fact that the senators serving on the committee are all attorneys who prefer the state’s current system, and are blocking the reform to protect their own coffers. He further criticized State Sen. Tom Harman, the committee’s vice chairman, saying he perceived the Orange County Republican as the “main guy” blocking the bill.

“If Harman wanted to move it out, he probably could,” he said.

Harman was quick to scoff at the notion that he was protecting lawyers’ wallets. Instead, he said, he was protecting seniors from what he thought could be a system prone to serious fraud and over-litigation.

“The bill is advertised, if you will, as being very simple and very easy; a no-brainer kind of thing,” he said. “But the last time I saw the bill it was 28 to 30 pages.

“I’m concerned that it would generate a huge amount of litigation. Trial lawyers are going to love it,” he said. “They could go after ambiguities, state of mind, undue influence … We have a method on the books to transfer real estate through probate court and it’s been on the books for over a century. It works very well.”

Harman added that he thought DeVore’s concerns about steep legal costs were misguided, and that the existing process is “very amiable” to those with fixed income, such as senior citizens.

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.