how can i find out who the attorney of a will is if family won't tell me

If you don't know the name of the decedent’s attorney, you should ask family members and friends if the decedent might have had an attorney. If they don’t know, search the decedent’s personal belongings for either a will or any evidence of dealings with an attorney or a law firm. You should search the decedent’s:

Full Answer

How do I find a will of a family member?

If you are trying to find the will of a family member who is not so close, like a distant aunt, you may not know who to ask. Luckily, you can look in the probate court in the location the testator lived out her last days. Although a will is a private document as long as the testator is alive, it becomes public when she dies.

How do I find a will without a lawyer?

Place a notice in a local legal newspaper or county bar association publication, asking any lawyer who has the will to turn it over to you. You'll probably recognize the will when you find it: a plain-looking document, typed or printed from a computer, labeled "Last Will and Testament" or just "Will of _______."

How do I find out if a will has been lost?

Will Registry Locating a missing will through The U.S. Will Registry involves a simple search. This search taps into a national database registry that stores the location of a will and final estate documents. Millions of wills are registered nationally and internationally.

How do I find out if a deceased person had an attorney?

These may contain something that indicates the decedent was in contact with an attorney before they died, such as: Contact the attorney you’ve identified to see if they wrote a will for the decedent. If they did not, they may have referred the decedent to another attorney who did.

How to find a will that hasn't been probated?

There is no simple way to find a will that hasn't been probated. If you have access to your father's papers, see if you can find anything with a reference to a lawyer or even an accountant. An accountant may know who your father's lawyer is. In any case, your father should have either the original will or a copy so check safe deposit boxes and file cabinets. If you can't find the will, an ad in the New York Law Journal...

How long does it take to file a will after your father dies?

You didn't indicate how long ago it was that your father passed away . Generally, a Will must be filed in the probate court within 10 days after death - - - but this is often ignored until an estate is opened. It may be that your father had a trust and transferred all of his assets to his trust to avoid probate and to keep the knowledge ...

Can a father's wife be appointed as executor?

You have been given some good practical advice. Legally, I suggest that you file an administration proceeding to be appointed as administrator. Your father's wife will get notice and if she has a will that benefits her, she will come forward with it and ask to be named as Executor. You can also do a petition to compel the production of a will, but this is more costly and you do not have enough information. You should...

How to prove a will is lost?

You may be able to prove the existence of a lost will—and perhaps even its terms—to the satisfaction of a probate court by producing the witnesses who signed the will and coming up with convincing evidence of what the will said. You should get a lawyer's advice before you go down this path.

What happens if you don't find a will?

If your best efforts don't uncover a will, it's not a problem. Other documents—for example, living trusts, pay-on-death beneficiary designations, or joint ownership deeds—will give you at least some of the instructions you need, and state law will supply the rest.

What is a codicil in a will?

A codicil is a document that revises or adds to a will. These days, codicils are rare. Most wills are created on computers, so people who want to change something commonly make a whole new will, which takes the place of all earlier ones.

What to do if you don't know the name of a lawyer?

If you don't know the lawyer's name, go through checkbooks for the last few years and look for payments to an individual lawyer or firm. If you know the lawyer's name but don't have an address or phone number, call the state bar association or check its website.

What to do if someone has a will but is hiding it?

If you have good reason to think that someone has the will but intends to hide it, you can sue to force the person to file the will. A lawyer should be able to help you assess your likelihood of success. Obviously, someone up to no good might promptly "lose" the will if pressured.

What is a will?

Lists of property items. In about half the states, a will can refer to an outside document to dispose of items of tangible personal property— that is, anything tangible except real estate. So if you find any document that lists items and who should inherit them, hang on to it.

Do you have to give consent to a lawyer to text you?

You are not required to provide consent as a condition of service. Attorneys have the option, but are not required, to send text messages to you. You will receive up to 2 messages per week from Martindale-Nolo. Frequency from attorney may vary.

How to find out if a will exists?

If you are trying to find a will written by a family member, or find out if such a will exists , you can always ask other family members or the family lawyer. If you are trying to find your father's will, ask your mother, if she is still living, and any brothers and sisters in the family. You could also look in likely places like a safety deposit box.

What to do if you don't know where the testator lived?

If you don't know where the testator lived, look in her obituary. Both private obituaries and military obituaries contain information about where the deceased lived before death.

What Is a Will?

A will is a legal document in which a person sets out who she wants to inherit her property when she dies. There is no specific format for a will. If can be written by hand, typed, printed from a computer, or even created with a fill-in form. As long as it is signed by the person making the will, termed the testator, and whatever witnesses that applicable state law requires, it is a valid document.

What is the job of an executor of a will?

One of the executor's first duties is to locate the beneficiaries and advise them of the probate.

Can a will be simple?

The will itself can be very straightforward or it can be complex. The testator can leave everything to one person, or he can specify a different beneficiary for each and every asset. Generally, more complex wills require legal assistance to prepare.

Is a will a public document?

Although a will is a private document as long as the testator is alive, it becomes public when she dies. It is filed in court during the probate of the estate, and, generally, open to public viewing.

How to find someone's will?

How to Find Someone’s Will in Public Records or Probate Court. If the decedent’s will is already filed with the court, or if probate has already been completed, then the decedent’s will becomes a public record preserved by the court. This means that the decedent’s will is accessible to anyone who wants to see it.

How Can You Find Out If Someone Has a Will To Begin with?

If someone close to you has died and you are trying to find out about a will, there are several logical places you can look and some people you can ask for information .

Where to inquire about a will?

If not, you can always inquire with a will registry or with the probate court in the county where the decedent lived. There are always at least six promising places to look or to obtain information that may point you in the right direction.

What is a will registry?

A will registry is a service that a person uses after writing a will.

Why do you need to find a will?

There are a number of reasons why you may need to find a will: You want to know whether you can file the will in court to begin the probate process. You want to find out if the will has already been probated after death. You know the court has already probated the will, but you want to see what property was left and to whom that person left it.

What happens if a client dies and wants to change the will?

If the client ever wants to change or revoke terminate the will before they die, the attorney will have the most recent valid will to work with. If the client dies, the attorney will know who the executor is ( the executor is the person named in the will to handle the estate of the decedent).

What happens to a nursing home when a resident dies?

When a nursing home resident dies and there’s no family member who spent time with the resident on a daily basis, the nursing home may remain in possession of the decedent’s personal items for some time. These items could include a will.

How to find a missing will?

Locating a missing will through The U.S. Will Registry involves a simple search. This search taps into a national database registry that stores the location of a will and final estate documents. Millions of wills are registered nationally and internationally.

What to do if a will is missing?

If a match is found, indicating the missing will is registered, The U.S Will Registry will need to be provided: a) the searchers identification b) death certificate or copy of public Death Notice. Once obtained, the will’s location (or the name of the attorney who prepared the will) will be released to the family member listed in the Will Search.

What happens if a will registry does not match?

If the registry does not produce a match, your information is then entered into a "missing will database". Attorneys are able to search this database, letting them know that loved ones are looking for a potentially lost will that they, or their office, is in possession of.