To Whom,
I live in Florida and my Mother lives in Ohio and is there right now.
My mother has passed from terminal cancer while in hospice at 11:50 pm on Sunday, September, 8th, 2012.

Before her passing she appointed my aunt her sister as power of attorney. My mother has always told me her son for many years that all of her monetary assets will go to myself her son after her passing. The first time I contacted my aunt she informed me that my mother did not have a will which is untrue and that my mother only has a small amount of money in the bank which is also untrue. My aunt in our first conversation told me that she did not want anything from my mothers estate because it is rightfully mine and that she would make sure that I would receive everything that my mother said that I would and she told me that she would keep me informed about the whole process but she kept everything on the secretive after that. She my Aunt in our second conversation informed me that no papers had been signed as of yet. Directly after the second conversation I called my mothers Partner/Boyfriend of 30 years and he told me that they already drew up and signed the will but any questions I have would have to be directed to my aunt who is the executor of her will. Mind you that the executor my aunt said she will always keep me informed as things developed with my mothers health and with the will which she has not. Every time I would call my aunt she would become short in conversation and tell me that she would call me back which she never did. I called her today and asked about the will and she informed me that there was nothing in the will that has my name on it. She also got angry at me for asking why that is and what was going on . Then she informed me that my mother left everything to her two sisters I was floored by this and told her that this was not my mothers wishes and I informed her about our first conversation which she stated that I would be the sole beneficiary of my mothers monetary estate she told me that she would make sure that I would get the remainder after all expenses and debts were finalized I do not believe her. She also said that the estate would have to pay for her other sister and husbands round trip air fare from Idaho to Ohio and hotel to the tune of $3.000 . These people have money already my mother said to me that they are comfortable financially and will not receive any monetary compensation from her estate. My question is why does my mother have to pay for them to come to see her on her death bed ?

I do not believe that my Mother was of sound mind or body when this Will was drawn up and signed I as well question as to whom actually signed the will.
I spoke to my mother over the phone on the day the will was drawn up and signed and she was not herself and did not speak clearly nor could she have a direct intelligent conversation with anyone for that matter.
I can produce testimonials from people who know my mothers wishes concerning her estates monetary assets and who my Mother wanted to receive them after her passing.

Could this be a case of fraud ?
Do I have any rights as her only son ? Closest next of kin ? Is this grounds for a contest or dispute of the will ?
My mother has passed and now it is all up to my Aunt the "Executor" to full fill my Mothers wishes to me her only son and only offspring. It has been over a year and still no contact from her . I need an attorney who is willing to work for a very low fee until I get my settlement. Please help.

I take it that you believe there is a will but you haven't actually seen it, correct? If there was a will that your aunt is working from it would have to have been filed with the county clerk when your aunt was named executor (presumably in accordance with the will). At that point the will becomes publicly available to anyone who wants to see it. So I suggest that you head to the county clerk's office and request to see the will.

As for paying for a trip to Ohio - the executor is entitled to reasonable compensation and for reimbursement of expenses realized in probating the estate, but if this trip occurred before your mother passed then your aunt has no right to expect to be compensated. Further even if she would argue that it's compensation for being executor, her husband's expenses should certainly not be covered.

You are correct that you need an attorney, who can advise you further and give advice as to whether the will can be contested.

You need to get an attorney in Ohio to represent you in probate. If the estate is big enough you can find an attorney to work for a share of the estate. Whether the will is contestable or not depends on how it was drawn. According to OH law if there is no will and surviving spouse (and you didn't indicate that she married the partner/boyfriend) then you as the sole offspring would get everything. If there is a will then the estate would be distributed according to the will.

Its not unusual for the estate to pay expenses, but they would have to be justifiable. As executor, your aunt needs to file the estate for probate and then provide a full accounting to the beneficiaries. You need to determine whether probate has been filed and then you need to contact the court about the status of the estate.

To ebaines, You are correct I have not seen the supposed will. Nor has it been filed in Loraine or Cuyahoga counties. I can not prove how much my mother had in Cds or in the bank with out an attorney so I am between a rock and a hard place on this one. What I need is a lawyer who is willing to find out and then make the decision weather or not to take my case.

No attorney will do that. So you might need to spend some upfront money for him to research the assets. However, if your mother died over a year ago and the will hasn't yet been filed for probate, that would be cause for concern. You might contact the county prosecutor's office and report this for investigation. I don't know if they will investigate, but its worth a try. However, that means your aunt could face jail if you decide to go down that route.

You can find a local Ohio lawyer online easily enough. He or she can find out not only whether there was a will (a will that was filed with Probate anyway - some wills are never found, even if a copy is with a lawyer somewhere), but also how much your mother had in assets when she died. Then you can decide if it's worth suing for part of the estate, as well as paying the lawyer. You won't get all of the estate based on her verbal promise to you, and you will have the added burden of proving that she was coerced into leaving you out. And if her sister took care of her a lot, and her other sister contributed in any way, you may have a tough time getting much at all.

Isn't it my right of the only surviving closest next of kin to have a copy of the supposed will ?

To ebaines, You are correct I have not seen the supposed will. Nor has it been filed in Loraine or Cuyahoga counties.

If your aunt hasn't properly filed to be named executor by the court then she has no right to do anything with your mother's estate. She is NOT the executor, because one has not been named yet by the court. And the old Power of Attorney is no longer valid as of the date of your mother's death. So if she is taking assets from the estate it's theft.

Contact a lawyer, now.


Isn't it my right of the only surviving closest next of kin to have a copy of the supposed will ?

Yes. The execitor is obligated to contact all surviving kin plus everyone named on the will and provide a copy if so requested. But as noted above - your aunt appears to have no interest in doing her job as required by law.

To, ebaines
So how do I request a copy of this supposed will ? Do I need a lawyer to do it for me ?
Are you a lawyer in Ohio who would be willing to help ? Am I allowed to ask that question on here ? I am afraid to contact her because she may file a restraint against me if I do because my cousin told me not to contact her in a very threatening way I might add.

As previously noted, the will has to be filed for probate. The will might name her as executor, but that's not official until its filed for probate. If you contact the county courts and probate has not been opened you can try to file for probate yourself. But if your aunt can produce a will but hasn't filed, again that smacks of criminal fraud.

Agreed, the POWER of Attorney ended upon the death of your mother. (sorry for the loss) Your mothers partner may know more about where the money was.

You will really need an attorney to start demands for information and to contest anything being done.

To, ebaines
So how do I request a copy of this supposed will ? Do I need a lawyer to do it for me ?
Are you a lawyer in Ohio who would be willing to help ? Am I allowed to ask that question on here ? I am afraid to contact her because she may file a restraint against me if I do because my cousin told me not to contact her in a very threatening way I might add.

No, I am not a lawyer, sorry. If your mother had a will it was most likely drafted by an attorney familiar with estate matters - do you have any idea who she may have used? FYI, whoever that attorney is most likely has a copy of the will in his files, so if you know who she used you can get started on this. If not - do you know anyone in Ohio, such as a friend of your mother's, who may be able to give you a recommendation? Beyond that I suggest starting with a web search for estate attorneys. Typically most will provide an initial consultation for free, so you can at least get an idea of how this may go.

This IS going to cost you money. You may have a tough time finding a local lawyer willing to wait for his or her fees.

Testimony from people regarding your mother's wishes are going to have practically no weight in court, unless there is proof of more going on. Wishes and even wills mean nothing until the LAST one. And yes, people do change their wills at the last minute.

I get the feeling that you didn't see your mother during the years before she died, and that most likely everyone is angry at you for not only that (the cousin) but also for not appreciating all the time and money that went into her care near the end. This happens a lot too.

If her boyfriend of 30 years didn't get left anything, why not talk to him? It seems that he has no vested interest in lying to you.

Initially you said the aunt said there was no will. But you thought there was one. Then you say the boyfriend told you a will had been made. Frankly, you would be better off if there was no will since, by law, you would be the sole heir. Then you could file for probate yourself as sole heir, have yourself appointed executor and take over the estate. But to do that you would need to spend some time in Ohio or have an attorney in Ohio.

To make a proper decision based on facts and not just feelings and assumptions you need a lawyer. You have already waited for somebody else to do what you should have done for yourself in the first place. Sorry to be blunt but its time to handle your business properly before a cold trail gets even colder.

I think your Ohio relatives count on stalling you.

I have to agree that it sounds as though it was your aunt caring for your mother more than you in the last couple years. This may have made you mother change the will, if there was one. Do you still keep in contact with her "partner/boy friend"? You said he is the one that told you a will was signed so he would most likely know what attorney she used. That being said, you have a greater claim if there is no will (providing the will did not include you). I would suggest you book a flight to OH and plan to stay for a couple days talking to attorneys to help you try to probate the estate (because I believe you had said it hadn't been filed with the court yet). Once you have a local attorney dealing with the matter you can go back to FL and they will work for you in OH.

In response to all who answered my post , Thank you, You have all been very helpful.
And as far as my Aunt caring for my Mother She did not. My Mother was either in the hospital or hospice. And Yes I did see my mother in the years before her passing. My Mothers boyfriend and I were astringed for many years because he formed a very inaccurate opinion of me early on. We just finally got to know each other in the two or three years before her passing. My Mothers passing happened very fast after her diagnosis of lung cancer. The kimo and radiation treatments somehow made the cancer very aggressive and it spread through out her body and she passed in hospice soon after. I will have to call her boyfriend and ask some questions but I don't think he will relinquish any information to me, but it is worth a try. If anyone has any more suggestions please post them. Also, should I try to contact my Aunt or Cousin and request a copy of the will ? Or leave it up to a lawyer ?

At this point, if you can confirm that the estate/will has not been submitted for probate, then I would not ask for a copy of the will, but I would ask why it hasn't been submitted. And what has been done with her assets since her death. If she was in a hospice, what happened to her belongings, papers, etc. Check with the hospice about that.

There are countless unanswered questions. If she owned her home and had other assets, and didn't have Medicare yet, it can take months for all the very high costs of care to come in. Even if she did have Medicare, it doesn't cover everything, and covers very little for terminal care. She'd either have to have Extended Care coverage privately, or give all her assets to the state of Ohio for Medicaid coverage (welfare). Many people with a nice nest egg lose virtually all of it to medical care. You just aren't going to get the answers you need without doing the work yourself, and if you need to save money, hiring a lawyer only after you do a lot of it.

My Mother did in fact have private insurance other than and above Medicare. I received two checks from her insurance indemnity plan which as well paid her for being in medical care and routine doctors visits. They told me that my Aunt tried to get that money but they found that I was the sole beneficiary being the closest next of kin.They found me through her obituary and contacted me. My Aunt sent me a very short message stating that her records indicate that I had received $***** from my mothers indemnity policy. Enclosed with a was a ring owned by my Mother that my Aunt thought I would like to have. Basically worth $500.00 but I am keeping it in memory of my Mother because she wore it a lot. My Mother sold her home back in 1989 and put the money into CD accounts, also in 1991, my grand mothers estate which she was pretty well off. This all went into Cd, even my Fathers alimony termination settlement which was a considerable amount as well went into Cd accounts. There is as well her personal checking account to take into consideration. My mother did have a comfortable life financially and never needed or wanted for anything. These Cd accounts were a high interest yielding and have matured countless times over the course of 30 plus years. She just kept rolling them over. If I am to do the ground work first before hiring a lawyer how do I get this information ?
Also I had contacted the hospice and they told me that all her financial responsibilities had in fact been paid in full.

So there probably are enough assets to make it worth a trip to Ohio. If you want to hire someone, you are going to need to pay in advance (most likely). Again, you have to start looking for a lawyer.
1) You need to find out if there was a will. If there was, it should have been filed with Probate by now. If it wasn't filed, then you can apply to be executor, and whoever your mother named as executor will have to fight you to get appointed.
2) If there was no will, you will inherit everything that doesn't have a beneficiary. Insurance has beneficiaries, and sometimes bank accounts, and people named on deeds with right of survivorship.
If you don't have money, you should try to borrow some. A lawyer might charge 300/hr or a third of whatever you get. The latter isn't too likely.

Here is what I believe what OP should do:

1. contact the clerk of the probate court in the county where the mother lived. Ask if a probate case has been filed and, if so, whether a will was also filed. If a will was filed ask the clerk to send you a copy, as well as the contact information for the attorney for the estate.

2. With this information in hand, OP should contact an attorney in Ohio. We have no idea what an attorney may charge until such an attorney is asked. If I were practicing law in Ohio I would probably look at the paperwork that has been filed and take it from there (as far as how much if anything I would charge up front).

3. In the previous post, Joy suggested a trip to Ohio. No need to take the trip until the above things have been done.

I have written the probate judge in Loraine county, Ohio, and he said that there is no record of an estate or a will filed on behalf of my Mother in the state of Ohio and suggested I hire a lawyer.

I have written the probate judge in Loraine county, Ohio, and he said that there is no record of an estate or a will filed on behalf of my Mother in the state of Ohio and suggested I hire a lawyer.

Good advice.

Again, Thank you all for your replies and great advice. I will now have to learn how to do my research and find out who my Aunts lawyer is and how to get a copy of the supposed will as well as my Mothers bank records somehow before hiring an Attorney.
This way he may be lenient on his fees and retainer. If anyone has any other suggestions or advice I would be happy to hear from you . And thank you all for your time.

I would not worry about a will at this point. If your mother left a will you probably would have seen it by now. As I said, without a will you get everything according to OH law. So since no probate case has been filed, then file one, declaring yourself as executor and sole beneficiary. This will give you the right to find and take control of any assets your mother might have had. If someone has a will they will have to bring it to the court to challenge your claim.

Just a word of caution. Interest rates have been super low for the last 10 years. So CDs would not have earned much in that time.

... I will now have to learn how to do my research and find out who my Aunts lawyer is and how to get a copy of the supposed will as well as my Mothers bank records somehow before hiring an Attorney.
This way he may be lenient on his fees and retainer. ...

That would be putting the cart before the horse. Talk to an attorney in Ohio- that won't cost you anything. He or she will probably know how to determine what assets your aunt left behind, as a prelude to quoting you a fee.

And you will not be able to get the banking information until after you have filed a probate petition.

Should I contact my cousin or my aunt and demand a copy of the supposed will first ?
Or should I not contact them at all ? If I should , what do I ask for ?

I would talk to a lawyer before I did anything.

OK, I will.
Thank you.

And no need to keep double posting by replying with quote of your own post.

Sorry I wasn't sure if it was posting or not . I am a first time user of this site.

I just wish I would have found this site over a year ago. You all have been so helpful, thank you .

Good luck and keep us posted.