HELP! My uncles estate is in another state

[jlivingst157]

HI, My uncle in GA passed away, his wife passed away 3 years ago (2012). We, the heirs however, live in PA. She had a will and he didn't. There are no biological kids, but she did have a son to a previous marriage. My brother has petitioned for administrator of his estate and recently got served papers from GA where the stepson is suing his estate, saying my uncle didn't honor her will when she passed away. There is a copy of her will attached, which was typed up by a lawyer and things were scratched out and hand written in. There are no initials or dates saying she approved these changes. For example, the executor of her estate was scribbled out and her sisters name was hand written in, it said her son was to received a vehicle then another vehicle is hand written above it. My question is, how can we prove this will is invalid now?

 

[LdiJ]

HI, My uncle in GA passed away, his wife passed away 3 years ago (2012). We, the heirs however, live in PA. She had a will and he didn't. There are no biological kids, but she did have a son to a previous marriage. My brother has petitioned for administrator of his estate and recently got served papers from GA where the stepson is suing his estate, saying my uncle didn't honor her will when she passed away. There is a copy of her will attached, which was typed up by a lawyer and things were scratched out and hand written in. There are no initials or dates saying she approved these changes. For example, the executor of her estate was scribbled out and her sisters name was hand written in, it said her son was to received a vehicle then another vehicle is hand written above it. My question is, how can we prove this will is invalid now?

You need to find out whether or not any will for your uncle's wife was probated. If they held all of their assets jointly, then everything would have passed to your uncle outside of any estate. For example, no matter what car her will said that he was to receive, if the car was owned jointly, then the car became your uncle's property and was not subject to the will.

On top of that, based on your description I do not think that any judge would accept that will as anyway, except perhaps if the judge ignored was what was scribbled in and went only with what the original said.

You are going to need an attorney but one point to consider is the size of the estate. If its modest, you may end up spending most of the assets trying to protect them against the stepson. In that case an attorney might advise you to settle and give him something to make him go away.