If a sibling claims to be executor of our parents will, but will not produce the will or prove they are executor, (even though I am fairly sure they are, and have a will), could I simply go to the surrogate's court and claim the decedent died intestate to provoke the sibling to challenge it with a will?
You could try doing that, and ask the court to make your the adminisntrator. you should not indicate that you know there is a will, but that you don't know whether there is or not, and that no one will produce it. If you know there is a will, you should not indicate to the surrogate's office that there is no will. If you know any lawyers that the decedent dealt with, you can try calling them to see if a will was prepared.
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