Oregon Estate Litigation Legal Questions

I am sorry to hear about this loss. The most important thing for you to do is slow down. The administration of an estate takes months or years, and nothing is going to happen this week. Second, you should adopt an attitude of dealing with this matter in a businesslike way, which means not allowing family members to upset you -- at least as best you can -- and dealing with this methodically, professionally and not emotionally. Finally, you should engage the services of your own attorney. Your attorney can make a request for a copy of the will -- even before it has been offered for probate -- and then advise you regarding your rights. Moreover, if and when the will is offered for probate, you will automatically be entitled to notice and to have information about the contents of the will. (Again, there is no business reason why you need this information today, as opposed to at some point in the future when administration of the estate is actually going to begin.)  Your attorney can advise you about your right to contest any will that is not the most recent or improperly executed or otherwise subject to attack. There is no rush to be represented. Just treat this, as much as you can, like any other property or business matter. Your first job is to deal with your grief and not let that cloud your business judgment. Getting an attorney will help you keep perspective on the issues that matter. Good luck with this. And, again, sorry.... Read Answer