My father passed away on the 12th of Dec. I am his only son and he was married to a woman not my mother who has 3 children.He has a will but...

Question

My father passed away on the 12th of Dec. I am his only son and he was married to a woman not my mother who has 3 children.He has a will but she has not offered to let me see it,so my question is what is my right to ask her to see it I know from him telling me that he left me half of his stock and his wife half.What do I do if she refuses to let me see it and we know that she has it in her possion.I know she has alread sold his car,ask for a years support from the stock,and cashed in the cd's.I have never done anything like this and just want to know what my legal rights are before I confront her.Thanks for any advice you can give me.Tony

Answer

As his wife, she will have some rights outside of a will, some of which can supercede a will. Check first with the probate court to see if she has filed anything. This is quite soon after death so she may not act that quickly. If you do suspect that she is not going to honor his will, see a lawyer very soon to take steps to protect your possible interest.

Answer

Tony,

I don't know where your father lived at the time of his death. Its too soon for probate so I find it very hard to believe that she sold the car or filed for a year's support. However, if the wife has done the things that you claim. then she would have had to probate the will. Check with the clerk of the probate court in the county where your father resided to see if a will has been probated. If it has, then make a copy of the court file. It should contain a copy ofthe will, if any, and an order granting letters testamentary to the executor of the will. See who the will identifies as the executor. If the car was assigned to the wife in lieu of her year of support, that should be noted in there. Also, a preliminary inventory should have been filed which lists your father's assets.

If all of this has been done, then you would have to get notice that the will is offered for probate and you would be asked to consent to the appointment of the executor .

How do you know that your father has a will? Or that he did not change it prior to his death? Him telling you is not necessarily dispositive. He could have told you anything, but if he did not write it down, it does not matter what he told you.

Are the current wife's children also the children of your father? If not, then they have no right at all to inherit from your father unless he made specific mention of them in his will. The only person who cannot be totally disinherited is the current wife unless your father and his wife entered into some kind of pre- or post marital agreement whereby they each agreed to waive any rights of inheritance or administration in each other's estates.

Assuming your father does indeed have a will, was it drafted by an attorney? Have you checked to see if the attorney has a copy or if your father had a copy filed with the clerk of court (some clerks in some states will allow this but some will not) in the county where your father lived? What about a safe deposit box? If your father had one, do you have access to it? If nothing works, then check with the court clerk as I suggested.

If you don't receive anything and there is no estate file, then all states have procedures to compel the production of the will. If you believe that the wife is concealing it, then you can compel her to submit it for probate. In such case, you will need to see a probate attorney about that.