Who probates/How?

What is the name of your state? TX

My grandmother passed away recently. Three years ago, her will was drawn up in Polk County, TX. Seven weeks before her death her son (my father's step-brother) moved her to Blanco County, TX, into a nursing home. Her son claimed at her funeral that she drafted a new will shortly before her death with the help of an attorney in Blanco County. We know that in the original will, he was named executor of the estate. In either case, we have checked Blanco and Polk Counties, and no motions have been filed to probate a will in her name. From all indications thus far, her son likely left the state/country soon after her funeral.

Given this information, who is it that needs to initiate actions to have [any] will probated and how would they go about this? Should another family member contact her lawyer in Polk County to notify them of her death? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My sincerest sympathies to you for having to deal with a situation like this while you are grieving.

Naturally, I'm sure the son did not happen to mention the name of the probate attorney in Blanco County who assisted with the will, so therefore you have no way of knowing for sure if he is telling the truth or not. Now you will have to consider whether or not you want to place a small classified ad in the newspaper of the same city that is the county seat of Blanco County to "Searching for the will of JANE DOE of 1234 Easy St, Blanco County, TN and also of 4567 Main St., Polk County, TN who died August 17, 2003 at age 83. Anyone with information, please contact JIMMY DOE at (405) 222-2222 or at my mailing address.)".

Anyone in the family (preferably a close relative such as her daughter or son) can file to become administrator/executor of your grandmother's estate or you can hire a probate attorney to serve in that capacity. Yes, someone should first contact the Polk County lawyer to see if he/she has a copy of the will so at least you would know what it says, although a copy won't be admissible to probate court.

Problem here is that you don't know where the original Polk County will is and it would not be unreasonable to assume that her son could have destroyed it. Does anyone have access to her home to be able to look through her personal papers to see if any of the wills is still there?

The fact that this son has up and left the state and the country (with no reasonable explanation) and completely disappeared is a little bit suspicious and most unusual. I would be greatly concerned that perhaps he may have gotten power of attorney from your grandmother while she was still alive and may have used that document to close out her bank accounts and claim other assets to use for himself. He probably does not know it, but the power of attorney expires at the same time that the death occurs, so he has no business handling anything with her estate with a power of attorney. If you have any way of knowing where grandmother did her banking, then whoever the executor/administrator is should start checking into this to see what assets she has left. The will is not needed in order to file for probate--the executor/administrator needs to file right away so that soon after filing the executor/administrator will get papers called letters testamentary giving him/her the legal authority to start claiming any and all assets, and usually banks and other financial institutions will not release information to anyone else other than the executor unless there was a named beneficiary on the bank accounts.

Good luck in getting this situation cleared up. Let's hope that this son has not run off with most of grandmother's money!! Do you have any idea of what her estate might be worth?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

Thanks for the advice, Don! I'll confer with my family to see how they would like to proceed.

In terms of surviving children, there is her son along with two step-sons (one being my father) and one step-daughter.

I have been attempting to contact the lawyer in Polk County to determine if they retained an "original copy" of the will and if that "original copy" is submissible. The day her son moved her to the nursing home, he placed a pad-lock on her house and posted "no tresspassing" signs around the property. At the funeral, he threatened to have anyone attempting to enter the premises arrested.

Prior to moving her away, my mother took primary care of my grandmother, including shopping and checking the mail. Shortly before her death, my mother discovered that nearly 2/3 of my grandmother's $120,000 savings had been withdrawn recently. With swift action, the family learned that he had convinced her to add him to her bank accounts. At this point, the family pointed out to her what he was doing, and she had him quickly removed. So, we know that he has essentially stolen much of what she had left. However, none of us have any interest in the money. Our primary concern is the residence, land, and personal property (including many family heirlooms). At the funeral, I overheard her son tell the funeral director that he and his wife would not be around much longer, as they were, "retiring and planning on travelling." Not a half an hour before this, he was overheard telling another family member that, "things were not good and they would have to file for bankruptcy." So, we have no doubt that he has left with the money he managed to get. We're just left trying to figure out what options we have within the constraints of the law.

Again, thanks for the advice.

Assuming you have found no will, you need to obtain a copy of the death certificate and begin probate immediately. Chose who will be the executor wisely since h/she will have probably have a difficult time getting the estate settled and most people do not realize the burden of being an executor.

Since her permanent residence and real estate are located in Polk County that is where you should do the probate. Her drivers license should be sufficent to establish residence if there is any objection.