QUESTION
How to find an attorney who may have been responsible for creating a Trust, Testamentary Trust or a Will on behalf of a client?
Asked on Dec 27th, 2019 on Wills and Probate - Georgia
More details to this question:
My Aunt died some years ago, our case is in probate court and remain in court to-date. My aunt told me that she had made a Trust/Will leaving me a house and some land in Orlando Florida. One of my uncle´s entered my aunt´s property and retrieved all of her papers, he said he found no such document,but i know where she to me to find the documents. After looking the space was without papers, so what can i do. Is it possible that IRS can help or what can I do??????
3 ANSWERS
Probate Litigation Attorney serving Lawrenceville, GA
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About all you can do is go through your aunt's check book records and credit card records to see if you can find a payment to an attoney and track it that way.
Answered on Jan 13th, 2020 at 7:28 AM
4 Awards
Please accept my condolences on the loss of your aunt. As for your question, the IRS has nothing whatsoever to do with Wills, so no, they won't be any help. If you find information about any attorney in your aunt's possessions, then you can contact that attorney to see if they helped her with a Will, but that won't necessarily find you the original Will, which is what you generally need. If your aunt had the original Will in her possession, and it is now gone, Georgia creates a legal presumption (which can be rebutted with strong enough evidence in some cases, but is controlling otherwise) that she destroyed the Will intending to revoke it. So even if you find a copy you may not be able to have the copy admitted to probate.
Answered on Dec 30th, 2019 at 4:18 AM
This answer is being provided as general information and not as legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by this answer.
2 Awards
Trusts are private documents. Wills are not public documents until they are presented to a court for probate (proving) and have no legal effect until the court admits them for probate.
If a Will is not found after exercising due diligence, the law presumes that it was destroyed.
Answered on Dec 28th, 2019 at 5:13 AM
This is general information. It cannot substitute for a personal consultation with an attorney. It is not intended to be legal advice or imply an attorney-client relationship.