It has come to my attention that my sister-in-law has been actively hiding money from my brother in preparation for divorce. He has handed over all his financial information to her lawyers and she claims to have done the same, but there are some big, gaping, holes in her "records". The biggest being that she is claiming that her wealthy grandfather left her absolutely nothing in his will. (This happened in 2004, and my brother respected his wife's grief and did not ask any questions at the time.) But in retrospect, he believes that she did get something (and probably quite a respectable amount).

Is it possible for him to look at the will for the grandfather? The estate is all settled, and has been for years. If so, how does this work? He passed away in Massachusetts, but he had family in Maine, Vermont,and New Hampshire if that matters. I have been told that I could just go to the town hall of the town where he lived when he passed away and ask for a copy, but that seems too easy! And I will need to drive several hours to get there, which I don't mind doing IF this is correct and likely to be successful.

(And in case you are wondering why I am going and not my brother... I have friends who live near the town where the grandfather died and so I plan to visit them, spend the night, and drive back the following say. It is too long a trip to do it all in one day, and my brother can not afford to take two days off from work and pay for a hotel, etc.) Frankly, I am hoping that I can do something over the phone, but I will drive if I have to!

If there was a will, it should have been probated in the county where the grandfather died. That probate should be a matter of public record and your brother's attorney should have no problem getting a copy.

If your brother is going to claim that his wife is hiding assets, then he's going to need to prove it.

I have been told that I could just go to the town hall of the town where he lived when he passed away and ask for a copy, but that seems too easy! And I will need to drive several hours to get there, which I don't mind doing IF this is correct and likely to be successful....
Frankly, I am hoping that I can do something over the phone, but I will drive if I have to!

Frankly, I am puzzled why you would even consider going there instead of calling first.

Look up the number for the courthouse in the county where her father lived. Call the clerk of court. Ask about the estate of ____ and whether the will is in the file. Ask how much the clerk would charge for making you a copy and mailing it to you.

And before you do that, you might want to go on-line. Google ____ County clerk of court. Many if not most local court clerks have docket sheets for each case online. You might be able to determine that way what is in the probate case file. And you will need the case number when you call anyway.

And if all else fails, find an attorney's office near the courthouse. For $50 or so, they probably can go to the clerk's office, get a copy of the will, and mail it to you. Much cheaper than a 2-day round trip (fuel + hotel).

Thank you, both, for the responses!

I think I worded things badly about going there in person vs. calling... I absolutely intend to call first, and then will go there in person if I have to. I have had very little experience dealing with the court/legal system, and what little I have had over the phone has been uniformly unpleasant and difficult. I will be crossing my fingers when I call that I get someone helpful this time!

I did some more research online after posting my question here, and apparently it is not the town hall in this case, but a probate office that I need to contact. I have the phone number for the county probate office now, and their hours of operation, and will be calling them first thing Monday morning.

If indeed it turns out that a live person needs to go get the copy of this will, I can ask one of my friends to get it. She only lives 20 miles from the probate office. But I want to make it as easy for her as possible... copied, paid for, etc. I am hoping she can just pick it up and then mail it. But she is a teacher, and the probate office closes at 3PM which is before she even gets out of work. Aargh! And of course, I am working under a time crunch. We need this information for a hearing on Thursday... why does stuff like this pop up at the last possible minute? (Better late than never, I suppose!:)