My Father Just Passed Away A Day Ago And His Live In Girlfriend Of 3 Years Is Trying To Claim All The Family Inhertiance. My Dad Supposley Had A Will Made Up But Now We Can Not Find It And The Attorney Said He Is Not Sure If He Has A Copy Of It. Where Do We Go From Here?

JudyKayTee

I don't know what State you are in but even without a Will the girlfriend has no right to inherit - she is not blood and that is how the line of inheritance works.

A copy of the Will won't help you - you need the original. Was it filed with the Court?

Who is arranging and paying for the funeral?

I'd bury your father first and then go to an Attorney and see what can be done.

George_1950

Welcome to AMHD. I am sorry for the loss of your father. You need to find the will, and the attorney says he can't find it??? Write the attorney a letter and request a copy; ask the attorney who would have witnessed the will (probably a secretary) and contact any potential witnesses; they might have kept a record of witnessing wills. Contact the probate court where your dad resides to see if it has a copy; this has been known to happen as it is a courtesy in some locations. If there is no will, you can apply to be the administrator of his estate; as far as I am aware, she cannot.

JudyKayTee

A copy of the Will is not sufficient - OP needs the original in order to file for probate.

ScottGem

I would first file in probate court to be the executor of his estate. You need to gain control Immediaiately. You can worry about finding a will later. But you need to get the estate out of her control.

As noted, since she was not married and not a blood relative, she has no legal standing. So getting yourself named executor, will not be difficult.

JudyKayTee

And, as Scott said, do it quickly before she empties the house out.

George_1950

However: "As a general rule, the original document must be presented for probate. Probate of a copy or duplicate of a will is not permitted unless the absence of the original is satisfactorily explained to the court. If a properly proved copy or duplicate of a will that has been lost or destroyed is presented to the court, it may be admitted to probate. Some states have special proceedings to handle such occurrences. A thorough and diligent search for the will is necessary before a copy can be probated as a lost will." See: Probate legal definition of Probate. Probate synonyms by the Free Online Law Dictionary.

JudyKayTee

Can you give me where you found this? I've been part of several investigations on this same subject (Court appointed for 2 of them) and the Court would not accept a copy, despite hearings, because there was no proof that the Will was not replaced by another Will which also could not be found.

This is why it is recommended that old Wills be shredded so they can never be admitted to probate.

I'd be interested in the site as well as the State because things do vary State to State.

George_1950

If you want state by state research, try a legal encyclopedia: Corpus Juris Secundum or American Jurisprudence 2d.
See: Corpus Juris Secundum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia or
American Jurisprudence, 2nd Edition

JudyKayTee

Thanks but I already know how do legal research - I didn't want to have to research where you got that quote. Of course, now that you've added the site to your original posting my question is no longer necessary.

But thanks -