Ask Me Help Desk - Contesting will

Well hi I am wanting some insite on contesting a will. I have not seen yet and isn't in porbate yet. The will was sent to the court house and I was to get a copy sent out on the 17th of Dec. I do have a lawyer. My Cousin had the will since the 20th of Nov said he'd get copys to us as soon as he can. I called him a week later and he said we couldn't get a copy until it got in porbate. There are 3 of us siblings. We the 3 slibings are heirs and we have to wait not right. I was told that my cousin which is a nephew to my dad wasn't telling us everything in the will only that his mother got everything. That will was made out in 1969 and not been notarized just signed by 2 witness which both and the lawyer that made the will are died. My dad knew of the notarizing as well and didn't do it " why " At this point not evening sure us siblings are in the will. We were always in our father's life from day of birth we never had his name or lived with him but he was our dad in every other way. My dad while in the hospital wanted to do a will and I called my lawyer asked questions and I ask my dad if he was mind and sound he nod his head yes and I ask him couple of question as if he knew where he was and what year is it and his birth date which he knew all. Only thing was he couldn't speak and I told him no way that I could speak for him or even be in the room and wasn't sure if he could even sign the papers. So I said no to him about making the will that if there was another will he made I would contest it. His sister which stands to Inherit all she 92 now and at the time my dad made that will which he was about 44 years old and she was raisng her only child just want to see her taking care of at that giving time. She said to me that her work was all done now and that she could go anyday. And her son which my dad's nephew would get all when she passes and that wasn't my dad's thoughts after finding him lying to him never wanted him to get nothing and kept tell me he couldn't take that house. Where do us sibling stand?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ladykoala75

Well hi I am wanting some insite on contesting a will. I have not seen yet and isn't in porbate yet. The will was sent to the court house and I was to get a copy sent out on the 17th of Dec. I do have a lawyer. My Cousin had the will since the 20th of Nov said he'd get copys to us as soon as he can. I called him a week later and he said we couldn't get a copy untill it got in porbate. their are 3 of us siblings. We the 3 slibings are heirs and we have to wait not right. I was told that my cousin which is a nephew to my dad wasn't telling us everything in the will only that his mother got everything. That will was made out in 1969 and not been notarized just signed by 2 witness which both and the lawyer that made the will are died. My dad knew of the notarizing as well and didn't do it " why " At this point not evening sure us siblings are in the will. We were always in our father's life from day of birth we never had his name or lived with him but he was our dad in every other way. My dad while in the hospital wanted to do a will and I called my lawyer asked questions and I ask my dad if he was mind and sound he nod his head yes and I ask him couple of question as if he knew where he was and what year is it and his birth date which he knew all. Only thing was he couldn't speak and I told him no way that I could speak for him or even be in the room and wasn't sure if he could even sign the papers. So I said no to him about making the will that if there was another will he made I would contest it. His sister which stands to Inherit all she 92 now and at the time my dad made that will which he was about 44 years old and she was raisng her only child just want to see her taking care of at that giving time. She said to me that her work was all done now and that she could go anyday. and her son which my dad's nephew would get all when she passes and that wasn't my dad's thoughts after finding him lying to him never wanted him to get nothing and kept tell me he couldn't take that house. Where do us sibling stand?

Where to start? First - Wills don't have to be notarized. There are witnesses. Some States ask that the witnesses then sign the acknowledgement that they witnessed the Will and that acknowledgement is notarized. The Will itself? No. In brief, it wasn't notarized (and I don't know why you think your father "knew about the notarizing and didn't do it)" because it didn't have to be. The fact that the Attorney is deceased is also immaterial.

If the Will from 1969 was never changed my feeling is that it will stand in Court - you can contest it, of course, but I see no grounds. As far as what was in or not in your father's thoughts, that's not legal testimony or grounds to challenge a Will.

In some States you have to specifically disinherit (leave out) your children; in other States the mere fact that you did not mention them assumes you deliberately left them out.

Legally the person to whom your father left his estate will get his estate - whether that person lied to you or not. Your father (apparently) waited some 40 years before there was any thought of changing the Will - if I'm following this correctly - and then he was unable to legally do so.

Children are not automatically entitled to inherit. Your father (and his estate) owe you nothing. It was his choice how to leave his property and real estate.

Unfortunate for you - this should have been addressed many years ago.

My Cousin jumped in quick as pointing him as the power of attorney. I felt my dad was pressured into some how. He became the power of attorney on Sep 15th 08 I didn't think I had to worry about it as he wasn't able to do much without my dad's say so " WRONG " I had called my cousin letting him know how the ear surgery went and to make sure Bev Wife of Mike’s) looked at his ear over the weekend at that time of the call on the 20th of Oct he then said to me that he had to get my dad to agree some how or some way to let him move that account so that he could get 3000.00 interest then the 300.00 he was getting and my dad wouldn’t move it other wise. I was taking my dad for an appointment as we pass by the bank my dad said did you know that bank was closing and I said no and who told him that he said Mike (Nephew) I believe that my dad finding out Mike lied lid him to having a " Stroke " My dad ask if I would take over being the power of attorney and such. We didn't even get the chance to do anything as he had the stroke on the next day after he found out about the bank wasn’t closing which was Nov 7th 08 We were going to set up to get them things done the following week.
My dad was asking me question as to if Mike could get in his accounts I said yes that the only thing he could do was pay his bills and any other things that needed to be and that he couldn’t move anything or just take the money out without his say so. Is there anything that can be done with this wrongful doing on the power attorney doing?

Power of Attorney give the holder the right to sign any legal documents on behalf of the grantor. Unless the POA was limited to a specific area it gave your cousin carte blanche to sign anything on behalf of your father. However, the POA expired with your father's death.

So you need to see the POA that your father signed to see how it was worded.

As for the will, as Judy said it did not have to be notarized. Many people seem to misunderstand what notarizing is. All it does is attest that a notary verified the identity of the signer. It has no other legal standing.

If you father died in Nov, its not uncommon for it to take a couple of months before a will is probated.

I also agree with Judy, you don't seem to have much grounds to contest the will. All you have is some hearsay evidence that your father wanted a change. Or that he was being taken advantage of.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ladykoala75

My Cousin jumped in quick as pointing him as the power of attorney. I felt my dad was pressured into some how. He became the power of attorney on Sep 15th 08 I didn't think I had to worry about it as he wasn't able to do much without my dad's say so " WRONG " I had called my cousin letting him know how the ear surgery went and to make sure Bev Wife of Mike’s) looked at his ear over the weekend at that time of the call on the 20th of Oct he then said to me that he had to get my dad to agree some how or some way to let him move that account so that he could get 3000.00 interest then the 300.00 he was getting and my dad wouldn’t move it other wise. I was taking my dad for an appointment as we pass by the bank my dad said did you know that bank was closing and I said no and who told him that he said Mike (Nephew) I believe that my dad finding out Mike lied lid him to having a " Stroke " My dad ask if I would take over being the power of attorney and such. We didn't even get the chance to do anything as he had the stroke on the next day after he found out about the bank wasn’t closing which was Nov 7th 08 We were going to set up to get them things done the following week.
My dad was asking me question as to if Mike could get in his accounts I said yes that the only thing he could do was pay his bills and any other things that needed to be and that he couldn’t move anything or just take the money out without his say so. Is there anything that can be done with this wrongful doing on the power attorney doing?

Quite honestly, I think you are making a lot of wild accusations that are only going to hurt you if you do decide to contest the Will - for example, that the betrayal of the nephew caused your father to have a stroke. You can get sued for statements like that.

The Power of Attorney "died" at the death of your father so that is not an action.

I'm sorry but this sounds like you are out to get revenge on your nephew, not right a possible wrong.

Again - the Will was written in 1969. I don't understand why if it no longer was what your father wanted done with his estate it wasn't changed over the course of 40 years - ?

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Again - the Will was written in 1969. I don't understand why if it no longer was what your father wanted done with his estate it wasn't changed over the course of 40 years - ?

People who take the time to make a will are more likely to keep it up todate if they want to change things. That also works against you.

I think you need to take a step back at this point and wait until the will is probated before you take any further action.