My father was supposed to have died without a will, but another relative has a copy of this will and nothing has been left to me.
When a person dies, the will is dealt with through probate. If there is no will, the probate courts generally comply with state law in order to determine who gets what. As the only son or daughter of the decedent, if there is no will and no spouse then you are likely to be the sole heir. However, when someone produces an unexpected copy of a will, a number of problems arise.
If another relative comes forward with what appears to be a copy of the deceased’s will, the first thing to do is seek legal advice. You should never take it as gospel that the copy of the will is indeed the deceased’s last wishes, particularly if you, as the son or daughter of the deceased, would otherwise stand to benefit from the will.
Another relative could have a copy of the will for a variety of reasons. The decedent may have revoked the original copy of the will or may have since updated it. The copy produced by the other relative may be a copy of an old will, and therefore will need to be validated.
Not every state will accept a copy of the will as a valid document, so you may still be the beneficiary of the estate, as it may go through under state law. Even if the copy of the will is accepted, you can still contest it. As someone that would have benefited in the absence of a will, you will have a good case if you have any doubts about the validity of the copy of the will.
Often, in cases like this, the estate is split between the heir at law and the named beneficiary. Depending on the value of the estate, the person named as beneficiary on the copy of the will may not want it to go to court. Obviously, if the estate is worth a substantial sum then it may end up going to court anyway.
An experienced lawyer will be able to offer advice on the best course of action depending on the circumstances surrounding the lost will and the copy produced by the relative. Therefore, if you have any concerns or doubts, seeking legal advice is vital in this situation.
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