to sign or not to sign

[gspt]

What is the name of your state?New York
I live in Arizona but I'm from rochester N.Y.
My grandfather died a few months ago, I received this single paged document that reads like this.. waiver of process consent to probate regarding petetion, hereby waives the issurance and service of citation in this matter and consents that the court admit to to probate the desendants last will and testiment dated ....and then goes on to say testamentary instrument have been received by me and ask for me to sign consenting letters testamentary be issued to and states my aunt whom I'd had no relationship w/ since she hates my mom becouse my mother divorced my father (her brother) when I was very young.
my question is 1st of all why did her attorney not send the petition this waiver was refearing to and why does she she need my consent?? My grandfather didn't have alot in propery or $ in the bank but what he did have was he owned a antique store filled w/very valuable items and he also had these huge drums like the kind gasoline trucks use filled w/$ and I remember being told there was one for each grandchild. I received after requesting a copy of the will and it names my aunt the duaghter of the deceased as executor. how do I know If I entitled to anything, the will never mentions the store our the property in it. thanks!!!

 

[Dandy Don]

The word petition is a legal term and does not necessarily mean you will be receiving a document called that.

Does the will name you as a beneficiary?

Why haven't you asked the executor or the attorney what you will be receiving? There may be assets that you don't even know about. You are in line to receive something as an heir or they wouldn't have sent you this information.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[gspt]

to sign or not to sign

I did request a copy of the will and says he appoints his daughter to be executrix and names her herin w/ full power of attorney to sell . transfer and convey any property real or personal upon terms and conditions sh she may determine and be allowed to serve without bond or other security and then it names her husband as an alternate. which I find kind of odd considering he has to sons also... but this will is only three pages and theres no mention of a benaficiary and its not even notorized. and it was drawn up by an attorney. Thank- you

 

[Dandy Don]

A will that does not name a beneficiary is most odd, indeed. You need to be taking it to an attorney to have him evaluate it to see whether it would be accepted as a valid will in court, and if not, what will happen if the estate is divided according to state intestate law (meaning without a will).

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[gspt]

to sign or not to sign

I've been searching for an attorney in AZ where I live that knows NY state laws, but haven't had much luck. but this Surrogates court probate proceeding and letters testamentary says thers no other will dated later than this one and then the next list has who the decendent was survued by distriutees As follows and has boxes to check and lists mother father spouse sister brother, cousins aunts and uncle and children of aunts and uncles. it says nothing about granchildren..Thanks for your help

 

[Dandy Don]

You need to be looking for a New York attorney in New York (duh!) or post your question to lawguru.com.

With a will that names someone as power of attorney, it is probably going to turn out that the will may or may not be good, but the person thought they were being clever, but what they didn't know is that POA expires/terminates at the same time the death occurs, so it really didn't do any good to name someone POA when the POA is not going to be any good. POA thought that they were going to be in complete control of all of the assets and probably wants to claim everything for himself/herself, but boy oh boy is he/she going to be in for a big, unhappy surprise. You really do need to do all in your power to have a New York attorney evaluate the documents you have.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[gspt]

to sign or not to sign

Thanks, and I have faxed all the documents to an attorney in Rochester.
I have since recieved a letter asking me to sign the waiver or they will send a citation. Could I have my mother stand in for me or will I have to appear?
How much does it usely cost to retain an attorney to represent in such a case? The attorney I sent papers to is just going to be looking them over as a favor to mother. Is there any thing I can file on my own to get things started? I also will call the police station which happpens to be convienantly located directly across the street from my grandfathers store. I 'm going to see if they can tell me whether its vacant or if they noticed trucks removing items. I 'm concerned becouse he died in a nursing home not at home, which was above the store. so I need to find out what has been going on with his belongings. becouse shouldn't have every item he owned been listed, becouse no personal items are mentioned in his his estate. I'm hoping that they haven't cleaned out everything of value. The daughter is well off enough but she would do whatever it took to see me not get a thing, and I know of dolls that were supposed to be mine. Thanks for help I'm thrilled to have learned from you that POA means nothing once a person dies, they are that ignorant, but would an attorney have prepared such a document that voids itself out.

 

[Dandy Don]

It's not wise to sign any document that you don't understand the meaning of--therefore you need to be consulting with a local probate attorney, although it probably won't hurt you to go ahead and sign this waiver.