Grandma's Will Probate

Hi, my husband's grandmother passed away two weeks ago. He was told by his uncle who is the Administrator of the Will that some monies were to be divided up between the 7 grandchildren. After hearing from my father-in-law, who is very upset, we were told that the original Will (which was not made through an attorney) and was made in 1981, mentioned that the four sons of his grandmother were to equally divide all assets. A copy of a codicil was also sent, which is handwritten and not in her writing, dated in 2001, and mentions the grandchildren, but only that they are to share monies out of two bank accounts out of the 8 that she had, with a minimum of $1000 to each. In this codicil, there were names spelled wrong, which she would have never have done, because at the time and until her death, was of sound mind and body. My father-in-law is upset because two of his brothers are handling this and are only giving the information that they see fit. I was told a year ago by his grandmother that she had recently seen an attorney and updated her Will, buy how will I be able to find out if we don't know who she went to? The two brothers are already moving things out of her house, and the Will has not been probated yet. Is this at all legal? I am a court reporter in N.Y., and take these cases every day, but you never think it would happen in your own family. Please advice.
We live in the State of New Jersey. Thanks. Stengal

1. What is the estimated total value of this estate?

2. Do you have a copy of the original will or not? They should have sent you a copy of the will at the same time they sent you a copy of the codicil.

Check at the probate court/county courthouse to see if the will and the codicil have been filed yet (this is normally done within 30 days after the death). If it is there, you can get a copy.

If it is not there, then you could place a small classified ad in the local daily newspaper or legal newspaper (cost will be about $100-$200): "Searching for the attorney who updated, in 2001, the last will and testament of Jane Doe. Please call Stengal at (202) 222-2222." The attorney willl probably see the ad and get in touch with you. Or, start calling all probate/estate attorneys in your city to ask each one to check and see if your husband's grandmother's will is on file with them.

CODICIL

The fact that it is handwritten is a minor point (it might be acceptable whether it is in her handwriting or not), but the main thing you need to focus on is:

A. Is her signature (or initials) valid or not? (Codicils are normally signed with initials instead of a complete signature.)

B. Were there any witnesses to her signature/initials, and are the witnesses's names also listed on the codicil.

There are rules and regulations about how codicils are to be done and if there is a question about the authenticity of the codicil, it can be thrown out. The fact acout the names being spelled wrong is also a minor point, but it does tend to support the argument that it looks like someone influenced her to make this codicil, or she could have asked someone to write it for her if she didn't want to write it herself.

It may not be illegal but it is certainly improper for the brothers to start moving things out of the house. True, since one of them is going to be the executor, then he will get to decide how the dispose/distribute the property, but if he has not filed the will, then he doesn't yet have the official legal authority to act as executor, and is behaving a bit prematurely.

You really need to talk to a local probate attorney to find out what your next steps should be.

Your grandmother certainly has the right to make a codicil if he wanted to include her grandchildren.

Your husband needs to decide if the evidence shows whether it is a true expression of his grandmother's wishes, or whether he thinks it's a phony and whether he wants to contest the codicil to get it rejected by the probate court (contesting it might be difficult and he would have to pay a large legal fee upfront to retain an attorney). Compare the terms of the will with the codicil to see who benefits by having the codicil.

DANDY DON