Occasionally it happens that the family cannot find the original of their family member’s Will. Alas, all is not lost for those families that are cooperative.
In some instances, we’ve been able to probate a copy of the lost original with the agreement of all parties having an interest in the decedent’s estate. That may mean that a family member gets less than what they might receive if the original Will was never found or if a copy of the original Will could not be admitted into probate.
In other instances, the lost Will results in the same outcome as if the decedent died without a Will. Rather than establishing an agreement to probate a copy of the lost Will it is sometimes (though, not always) simpler to probate the decedent’s estate as an intestate estate (i.e., the decedent died without a valid Will) and to agree to the naming of an administrator for the decedent’s estate.
Yet, in other instances where parties are not in agreement, it may still be possible to probate a lost Will.
If you find yourself in any of these situations, please give us a call and let us see if we can help fashion a solution.