Probate Legal Questions

The Will does not apply because your father designated you as the beneficiary on the IRA account.  The Will only applies to assets that remain in your father's estate after all non-probate transfers occur.  Yes, you should either open an account or contact an independent financial advisor and accountant to consider all other options for rolling the asset over to another institution.  Please consult with an Estate Planning attorney to do a comprehensive evaluation of your father's entire estate and your unique situation.   Best of luck.... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother.   As for your question, unfortunately it can be difficult to find a Will sometimes, if the person who made it was not careful (or was too careful) about whether she kept it. Here's about the best thing you can do to try to find out if a person had a Will or not: 1. Do as thorough a search as possible of the person's home, car, any safe deposit box, and any storage units- anywhere she may have kept anything, especially sensitive documents. Go through everything with a fine-toothed comb. Don't just look for a Will- look for cards or other info for attorneys or any other evidence that she may have worked with an attorney on a Will, look for drafts, etc. If you find an attorney's info, call the attorney's office and ask if they may have worked with your mother and that you are trying to find her Will after her death.   2. Contact the probate court for any county your mother lived in or previously lived in. When you call, do not simply ask if a Will is on file for your mother. Ask very specifically whether any Will was filed "for safekeeping" for your mother. If you just ask whether a Will was filed, the courts may not think to look in the safekeeping records and may overlook those.   3. If after taking the first two steps you still don't have a Will, then you can likely assume that your mother did not have a Will. That is possible- I have seen and heard of people who spoke of having Wills many times during their liives but then turned out not to have any. People do not always carry through on their intentions. Best wishes to you and your family.... Read Answer

You can write whatever note you want, but if anyone contests your friend's ownership of the property you leave, the note won't be worth the paper it's written on.  If you want your friend to inherit your property after you die, you have to so provide in a validly executed will.  Alternatively, you could prepare an instrument giving it to him now but retaining a life estate for yourself, but that is probably a bigger hassle than simply preparing and executing a will.... Read Answer

You need to seek out the help of a probate lawyer to examine who the potential heirs are and if they all agree on what they want to happen.  Typically this would involve a probate proceeding called an appliczstion to determine heirship followed by an agreed application for an independent administration.  You can not do this yourself.  Hire a lawyer... Read Answer

Simply put NO NO NO NO. This type of DIY with a Google degree in law is likely to cost his heirs 10-20 times as much to fix after his death as opposed to if it was done right to begin with. Would your father inlaw takes his appendix out while reading a manual on how to do it?  Likely not!!... Read Answer

So sorry for your loss.. The fact that your husband told the mortgage company that you were his beneficiary is of no legal consequence.  There should have been papers prepared and filed both tin the deed records and with the mortgage company.  Did your husband have a will?  Did it leave everything to you?  Are you the named Executrix?  If so, the process is straightforward.  The will needs to be filed for probate in the appropriate court in the county in which your husband was domiciled at the time of his death.  Once filed and some additional papework is filed with the court, there can be a hearing and (if you are the named person) you will be appointed independent executrix without bond.  After that, there are a few more court papers that need to be filed, but you can proceed  (with a lawyer's help) to transfer the property to yourself.  This transfer does NOT extinguish the debt but as executrix of the estate the mortgage company or its sucessor will want to talk with y ou.  Without a will an application to determine heirship must be filed probably coupled with an application to appoint an independent executrix.  Much more complicated and time consuming.  As a practical matter, the mortgage company probably won;t do anything adverse to your interest as long as you are paying on the exiting mortgage. Do yourself a favor and find and hire an experienced Probate Lawyer ... Read Answer

If you are the only heir of your grandparents and they did not have a will, you need to apply to open their estates and be the administrator.  The process can be confusing and you should get a lawyer in the county where your grandparents lived. call me at 252-393-2235 if I can help.   John... Read Answer

Need more information here, is it one of the 3 children who passed or one of the children? If it is one of the children, it will depend on that child's estate plan and what the quit claim says. If there is a right of survivorship, the quit claim now only applies to those still alive. For the will, the specific language is what matters.   Sorry I cannot give you more, but this is all that can be said with the limited information given.... Read Answer

If the check was issued after your father died, I would assume (without knowing all the details of what the check was for) that nobody has he right to cash it.  If it was issued before he died, it now belongs to his estate, and only a duly appointed representative of the estate can cash it.  You would have to start a court proceeding to probate his will, or if no will to administer his estate, the Court will appoint an executor (if one is named in the will) or administrator if no will (they may use different terms in Ok, but same basic procedure), probably you if you want to do it, and that person would then take care of marshaling and distributing the assets of the estate, including this check.... Read Answer

The Ohio Supreme Court maintains a directory to locate all currently licensed attorneys.  The link is below: https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/attorneysearch/#/search   I'm not sure if it's the same person, but a Robert Urban Jr. is an assistant prosecutor with Tuscarawas County.  If that does not work you will likely want to speak with another probate/estate planning attorney to address your concerns.  Sometimes the Will is recorded in the County of residence.    Best of luck.... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother and the loss of your sister.   As for your question: If your caveat fails and the Will produced by your sister is admitted to probate, then the Will she produced will likely be admitted to probate with a successor Executor appointed in her place, and the effect of your sister's death on how your mother's estate is distributed would be dealt with as that Will provides, if it makes any provision in that regard. But unless the next nominated Executor decides to withdraw your sister's Petition to Probate the Will, your sister's death would likely not cause the court to throw out the entire petition.   Wills do frequently contain provisions that are designed to deal with a situation where a beneficiary dies after the person who wrote the Will. For example, if a Will requires that a beneficiary survive the person who wrote the Will by a certain minimum period of time, such as 90 days, and that beneficiary survives the person who wrote the Will by at least that long but then dies after that, the beneficiary's estate will often end up receiving the property that beneficiary would have received. The property would then be subject to the beneficiary's Will (or state law, if the beneficiary had no Will). But, if a Will requires that a beneficiary survive by a certain period of time and the beneficiary does not make it that long, the Will would generally provide for an alternative disposition of that beneficiary's share. For example, in my firm's Will it is often the case that, if a child does not survive her parent by at least 90 days, the share that the child would have received if she survived at least the 90 days will instead pass to her children, if her children survive the person who wrote the Will by at least 90 days. That said, I have seen Wills that don't deal well, or at all, with cases where a beneficiary dies. Without seeing the Will your sister claimed to be your mother's, I have no way to tell what it might do.   If you are working with an attorney on your caveat, you should ask your attorney what happens next. If you don't have an attorney, you should really consider consulting an attorney who works on estate litigation- having someone who knows what they are doing can be extremely helpful in a disputed estate.   Best wishes to you.... Read Answer

Assuming the home is in your mother's name only, if the value of the home is $200,000 or more, a full probate will be needed to properly transfer or sell the home. If the home value is under $200,000, you may be able to file a Small Estate Affidavit with the Court and transfer the home through that process. Eitherway, I recommend contacting a probate attorney to discuss further.... Read Answer

If you are a named beneficiary in the will as you indicate, the court would require that the applicant who filed the application to probate the will give notice to and receive waivers from all beneficiaries who might inherit.  If you are a first tier beneficiary and did not receive notice, something is wrong.  You should hire a lawyer immediately to determine if you have a case.... Read Answer

Hello. My name is Damien. I am a Trusts & Estates attorney in New York City practicing in the New York City metropolitan area. When an executor is refusing to provide an informal accounting of the estate or updating beneficiaries, the court can order the executor to provide an accounting. In section 2205 of the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act, “the court may at any time, upon it appearing that it is for the best interests of the estate, make an order (a) requiring a fiduciary to file an intermediate or final account within such time and in such manner as directed by it, (b) suspending a fiduciary who being duly cited to account neglects to appear on the return of process without showing a satisfactory excuse, therefore, or who fails to file an account within such time and in such manner as directed by the court…”  If you need any assistance, a New York Trusts & Estates Attorney could help you.... Read Answer

Hello. My name is Damien. I am a Trusts & Estates attorney in New York City practicing in the New York City metropolitan area. You are indicating that you believe that the will was improperly executed and/or that the testator could have lacked the capacity to execute (sign) the will. Generally, any person whose interest in properly or in the estate of the testator would be adversely affected by the admission of the will to probate may file objections to the probate of the will. Some reasons to object to the probate of the will would be improper execution, forgery, lack of testamentary capacity and/or duress or undue influence. If you need any assistance, a New York Trusts & Estates Attorney could help you.... Read Answer