limitations

What is the name of your state? Texas
My mother has passed away in march 2002, and she only had a hand-written will(wish list) that wasn't certified and her husband was informed by legal aid that he needed to probate her will, but hasn't and doesn't wish to do it at all. How long does he have to file? Furthermore, at her time of death i was informed by her husband that my mother didn't have any life insurance, when in fact she had told me over the years she had a $25, 000 policy on herself to cover all of her expenses. How would/could i go about finding out if in fact if she had a policy?

The life insurance is payable directly to the named beneficiary and is not considered a part of her estate.

The main question you need to find out is, does your mother have enough assets to need to have her estate probated? Each county has a minimum amount of assets required for a probate to be filed, and if there are not enough assets, then there may not be a need for probate. You can check with the county clerk at the probate court to find out what the minimum is.

Normally, he is supposed to file within 30 days after the death occurs, but if he chooses not to file he can probably delay for a long time.

If you are willing to pay an $89 fee, there is a website www.l-lifeinsurance.com that searches about 200-400 of the major national life insurance companies to locate policies.

Her hand written will did not need to be certified but it needs to have at least been witnessed by 2-3 witnesses.

DANDY DON