• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Attorney will not surrender will

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

J

joa700pro

Guest
YOUR STATE NAME - LOUISIANA:confused:My daughter just hired an attorney to handle my ex-husband's estate which is her father. There were rumers of a will. The attorney sent a letter to another attorney (who had handled a mortgage payout for her father) and her two sisters asking if anyone knew of a will to come forth with the will. The attorney contacted him in two weeks that she had searched her files and came across his will and that she would fax it to him by the end of the week. She did not fax the will and has not as yet done so. How long does one have to hold on to a will without presenting it? What should she do next?
 


ALawyer

Senior Member
There are a few choices --

I think you may send a nice letter or call again to remind the lawyer that he was to send a copy. Perhaps s/he forgot, or mailed it to the wrong address, or it got lost in the mail.

Especially if there may be a need to sue anyone, or the estate is not small, get a lawyer to represent her interests and have the lawyer contact the attorney.
 

curb1

Senior Member
Tell your daughter to do as much work herself that she can. Have her go to the attorney's office holding the will and ask for it. From my experience, the more attorneys involved will mean that they will be the people that will end up with your daughter's money.
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Check at the county courthouse/probate court to see if the will has been filed. I can't speculate on why this attorney didn't send it to your daughter's attorney, but I guess it was because the attorney who found it might be named executor or may want to be named as such, and didn't want to turn it over to another attorney who might want to replace him as executor.

Your daughter should ask her attorney for this other attorney's name, address and phone number, and then the daughter should send that attorney a certified letter requesting a copy of the will, since that is her right as a potential beneficiary. If it doesn't arrive within 7 days, she should visit his office in person to get a reason why the will isn't being provided.

If he still won't let her see it, then she should file a complaint against him with the local bar association--I'll bet that would get his attention.

DANDY DON
 
Last edited:

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top