Father's Will

My father's will went into probate in November 2000. The will stated that everything was to be left to his wife, my stepmother. I was listed as his next of kin. He did not disinherit me in the will. He was dying of cancer. The will was signed in May 2000. He died in October 2000. The will was a simple will probably from the internet. It consisted of two pages. The first page was the actual will. The second page had my father's signature, two witnesses signatures and the notary public's signature. The notary public was NOT PRESENT at the signing of the will. My questions are - Without the notary public present is the will legal and is it legal for the signatures to be on a separate page from the actual will. It seems to me it would have been very simple to write what you wanted the will to say and attach it to the signature page after my father died. My father had no reason to leave me, his only child and three grandchildren out of his will. I believe something is illegal about this will.

FEB 10, 2001

Please mention what state applies here--where is the will being probated? Have you seen the will, and was your named mention as a beneficiary?

[email protected]

I'm sorry I forgot to mention the state the will is being probated in - it is the state of Alabama, Fayette County, Alabama. I have a copy of the will. I was served with my notification that the will was being read at 9:20 a.m. on the day it was being read. The will was read without my presence at 9:00. I was served too late. I am named as his next of kin, but he left everything to my stepmother. My father had lung cancer and would sometimes say things that did not make sense and would catch himself and tell us I don't know why I said that it didn't make sense. The doctor found three tumors on his brain from the lung cancer about a month before he died. They found the tumors in late September, he died in late October and he made his will in May.

The absence of a notary is not fatal.

There are a bunch of issues:

First (and I am not from your state and do not know the answer) did his state require 2 or 3 witnesses to a will? and, Were the witnesses qualified to serve as witnesses (if she was a witness that's not sufficient).

Second, was he competent when he signed the Will, and free of duress or undue influence? Proving he was not is hard to do.

Third, did he in fact sign that document as his Will? That can be determined when the witnesses testify or give affidavits. You can demand to put the widow to the proof. BUT please know that few will contests that go to trial are successful and all require a lawyer. Sometimes having a lawyer make a threat of a contest produces a settlement; you alone would be bluffing and hurt your chances.

FEB. 12, 2001


DEAR JENNY:

The questions you ask and the facts you describe do indicate that there are a lot of suspicious aspects to this situation and you are right to be concerned. The fact that you weren't notified about the reading of the will until it was too late is very sneaky--if she really wanted you to know about it, arrangements could have been made for you to have been notified ahead of time (or she could have even called you herself!).

Ask the notary public what her function was--were her services needed only to witness the signatures of the witnesses or was there some other reason? The fact that the signatures are on a separate page is not necessarily illegal, since if the language of the will naturally ended on the first page, and then there was no more room on the bottom of that page, then common sense tells you that the signatures would come next.

(1) How long was this lady married to your dad, and did they have a good relationship or is there past evidence of friction or lots of disagreement/strife?

(2) Approximately what is the total value of your father's estate?

(3) Were you on good terms with your father in the few months/years before he died?

(4) Did he tell you about the will at the time it was drawn up or did he ever let you see it or tell you where it was?

(5) Is there anything on the last page of the will that shows the name of the law firm who drew up the will or is there anything on the will that indicates it was done (as you say) on the Internet? If the will was not drawn up by an attorney, you should ask your stepmother where the will came from.

(6) If he was employed, you should check with his employer to find out who was named beneficiary of his life insurance policy and/or pension benefits.

Ask the witnesses about the signing and if they saw anything improper or was everything done naturally.

It does seem very odd that he would not have left you something. Unless you can come up with specific evidence of undue influence or fradulent signature, then a will contest would be very difficult and perhaps not worth the effort. Just for your own satisfaction, you need to write a letter to the probate court or testify at the probate hearing if you think the court should know about any information you have uncovered.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]