Won't start probate or have will read

[auntie]

What is the name of your state? Oregon

My brother died over a month ago. He and his wife, my sister-in-law, set up separate wills using the same attorney. My brother let several people, including his only daughter from a previous marriage, know that they were in his will. He didn't have much, but we know he left my niece $10,000 to be given to her immediately upon his death, because he told everyone. My niece just called their lawyer to ask when the will would be read, and he said my sister-in-law had not notified him that my brother had died. She managed to notify every other means of money for her, but not the lawyer. The lawyer also told my niece that he could not tell her who was the executor, but that her step-mom was the only person who could have the will read or start probate, or that my niece would have to get legal representation to do so. My niece, who lives out of town, asked my sister-in-law to have the reading when she came up to scatter my brother's ashes. She wouldn't do it. My sister-in-law also told my niece she couldn't have the $10,000 for at least a year because it would hurt her financially. My sister-in-law just inherited a half-million dollar trust from her mother and is spending thousands on clothes.

What should my niece, and the rest of us who are in his will and would at least like to know and honor his intentions, do?

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: What should my niece, and the rest of us who are in his will and would at least like to know and honor his intentions, do?

A: You file for probate and have the court summons sis into court with the will.

 

[auntie]

The lawyer said only sister-in-law could file

Q: What should my niece, and the rest of us who are in his will and would at least like to know and honor his intentions, do?

A: You file for probate and have the court summons sis into court with the will.

Thank you for your very quick response. Do we file for probate in the county he lived in, or the county he died in? They live in Beaverton, OR, but he died at the hospital in Portland.

 

[seniorjudge]

Thank you for your very quick response. Do we file for probate in the county he lived in, or the county he died in? They live in Beaverton, OR, but he died at the hospital in Portland.

Check with the court to make sure, but the general rule is that you file in the county of residence OR the county where the dead person owned real property (or a lot of personal property).

 

[Dandy Don]

A lot depends on exactly how the $10,000 was bequeathed, whether in the will or outside of the will. If it is mentioned in the will, she may not be able to get it immediately since the probate process takes a few weeks or maybe even a few months, but if he left her a certificate of deposit or bank account/savings account with the $10,000 in it AND designated her as a beneficiary, she may be able to get it faster without going through probate. Discuss this with the executor after you have reviewed the will to see exactly what it says.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[auntie]

Don't know who the executor is...

Herein lies the rub, as they say...My sister-in-law won't contact the lawyer to have the will read, and we don't know if he had a personal rep or executor. From what we know, he had is own bank account with the money in it, which was supposed to be given to my niece. I think my sister-in-law, while my brother was in the hospital dying no less, went to the bank and transferred his money into her account before he died. She was frantically looking for a safe deposit box key for some reason. Don't know if she found it. My brother was too secretive for his own good...he needed to trust someone with the information about his will, executor, etc. We'll see about filing probate, since the wifey refuses to do so. In Oregon, I believe she is required to do so within 30 days of his death, and it has now been more than 40 days.