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Need help filing will for probate pro bono

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esummerz

Guest
What is the name of your state? Texas

My ex-husband's legal wife of under two years duration physically abused and bodily threw him out of their home when he was dying of cancer. He had spent 6 1/2 hours at the hospital receiving chemotherapy and when he arrived home, she argued with him because she had just found out that she wouldnt be getting widow's benefits from social security when he died... She told him all she wanted was his money and if there wasnt going to be any money for him to get out... when he protested, she smashed a metal birdcage over his head and split his forehead, then she phoned two goons to help throw him out. When they arrived, they felt sorry for him and helped him carry some of his clothes, some of his music tapes, a few tools out to his truck. Everything else, the wife kept. We had been married twice to each other, totalling 24 years. He returned to live with me in Houston until his death six months later and I took care of him until the end. He left behind a will, properly witnessed and notarized. The only item of monetary value was his truck, which he left to me. He also left behind unpaid medical bills of approximately $10,000. He had no health or life insurance so i paid for his funeral expenses totaling approximately $6,000+ and after his death, i paid off the balanced owed on his truck of approximately $3,000+... which sits undriven in my driveway with no current registration until the will gets probated. He named me as his executrix.

My problem is that I cannot afford to hire an attorney to probate the will. I spent all my money trying to keep him alive and then paying for his funeral expenses. I have been trying to figure out precisely how to probate the will, pro bono style, trying to determine which forms to type up and if and how to make an appointment with a probate judge to determine whether the will does have to be adjucated in order to get the letters of testamentary so that i can transfer the truck into my name. According to the motor vehicle licensing people, the truck legally belongs to his legal wife... until the will is probated. Can anyone help me PLEASEEEEE.... with some solid guidance on which procedures i should follow and exactly which forms need to be filed with the will for probate, if it indeed needs to be probated...
 


I AM ALWAYS LIABLE

Senior Member
My response:

Why are you bothering?

Let the lienholder take the truck; i.e., reposses it.

But, if you insist, you can buy a book on the subject at Barnes & Noble bookstore. But, I wouldn't bother.

IAAL
 
E

esummerz

Guest
Texas... I am "bothering" because his dying wishes are important to me... and he didn't want his abusive wife to have his truck when he was dead and gone. The fact that he willed it to me meant a lot to him and to me. That is why I took over $3,000 of MY money and paid off the loan after he died so that it wouldnt be repossessed. There is no lienholder. It is paid in full. However, as I stated before, according to the Dept of Motor Vehicles, I cannot title it in my name until his will is probated and the letters of testamentary are issued authorizing me to make the title transfer.
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
All you need to do is go to the county courthouse probate court and file the will yourself (you don't necessarily need an attorney to do this), and soon after filing you will get the letters testamentary. The forms you are given should be simple enough for you to fill out and understand.

After you do that, then if you have any further questions about forms or procedure, then just have a 1 or 2-hour consultation with a local probate attorney to get your questions answered. If you have never been through probate before, then talking to someone who has gone through it could provide valuable insight.

Good luck with your situation and I hope you DO get the truck--the other mean spouse doesn't deserve much of anything--what a way to treat someone!!
 
E

esummerz

Guest
Thanks for the information, Dandy Don. I'll go there this week and attempt to file the will as you suggested. And, by the way... he was quite a character and did leave his wife something in his will...and I quote his words exactly direct from his will... "and finally, should i live so long, to my future-ex-wife (name deleted), I leave the amount of $20.00 for the kindness she showed me by throwing me out of the house during the final stage of my life... so she can pay for a newspaper ad to find herself another sucker." Thanks again, Dandy Don. I truly appreciate your help.
 
Probate Pro bono lawyer fast. Need help

:confused: I am from state of Arkansas. I hope that you someone can help me, I need help BAD. My name is Kirby Dickey and I was cut from my father Testament. My father died last year on 23 March 2004, my father was buried on 27 March 2004. I was living in Germany when my father died, I had to fight back for my father burial. I learn the first day that my father cut me from his Testament. I was hurt, but I still love my father. I know in my heart my brother force my father to change the Testament over to him. The FARM have 118 acres and had our House in the Middle of the FARM. My stepmother got in the Testament, My stepmother all the rest , residue and remainder of the property, real, personal and mixed, is hereby given to my wife. In the event of my wife should predecease me, then all of the rest, rest, residue and remainder of my property is hereby given to my Son David. My Stepmother was given Life estate in favor of my stepmother. When the father was buried, David did'nt want to give me a copy of my father Testament. He got mad and threaten my life, I have proof from my family writing me a written statement. I force off the farm from my brother, then I came back to Germany. My father Testament was Probated my Brother who got the Farm in Oct 2003. But a year later, my brother force my stepmother of the farm, she now live in Oklahoma with her Daughter who got her POW. In June 2001, my brother had my father and stepmother take a loan on the farm. That mean that my stepmother have 50% of the farm now. My stepmother think she just have rights to live in the house still she dies. Can Dorothy rent the house out to someone else or sell her 50% and get the money from David. David is making the farm payments every month, what can I do. I hope that someone help me, thank you Kirby Dickey
 
did'nt know father had daughter

:confused: I am from state of Arkansas. I posted a message about my father testament. I just learn that I have a new half-sister that my father never told anyone in the family about her. She was in April 1969, my father did his Testament in 13 JANUARY 1999. She was not name in the Testament, my question is. Can my half-sister obtain her share of the farm, I support if she get her half. The farm is worth $100000 dollors. thank you Kirby Dickey
 
father testament not correct

:eek: I am from state of Arkansas. I have just learn that my father testament is not correct, it list my father as a her not him in the Testament. Does this make the Testament VOID. It states,(the instrument offered for probate is HER last WILL) It should have been written HIM not her. What does this mean, this make will VOID. And the lawyer who sign the WILL was not licenses to practice in the state of Arkansas. Can this make the TESTAMENT VOID. And when I can back to Germany, I called my father probate lawyer. He mail me a copy of my father testament without no signature from my father. Later when my brother probated the will, he add signatures of my fahter signatures with witnesses. Is this a mistake or did my brother forged my father signature. The lawyer should have had a testament with signature in the first place. Can I report this to BAR ASSOCIATE IN ARKANSAS? thank you Kirby
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Kirby you should have posted your message as a new message and not as a reply attached to someone else's thread, but we forgive your mistake.

Do not ask for a pro bono lawyer (this means "free") and no lawyer is going to want to take your case for free. You need to find a probate lawyer in the same county in Arkansas as to where this estate is being probated and ask your lawyer to review the wording of the will to see how strong it is and whether you have sufficient legal grounds to contest this will, and then the attorney can give you an estimate of what his fee would be.

Does this man have any other assets in his estate besides the farm? Does the will say what is going to happen with the farm--is it going to be sold or not? Did you have a good relationship with your father or a bad relationship that may have made him want to disinherit you?

If your father specifically disinherited you there may not be much you can do, but can you produce evidence of an earlier will which may have included you? The facts here certainly do look a little bit suspicious and it does look like you were cheated out of something from this estate.

There is no crime just by your having been given a copy of the will. The original signed will would have been kept by your father in a secret place and the attorney could not have given you a copy of a signed will.
 

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