Child pre-deceases parent

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TN

What is the TN state law when a child pre-deceases his parent? My father pre-deceased my grandmother and therefore left my aunt as the only living child. My question is, now that my grandmother has passed, should my dad's half of his mothers estate be passed to me as his only living child?

My grandmother's Will was updated 2 weeks after my dad's death to reflect that my aunt is the only beneficiary but it is not a notarized copy and I have reason to believe my grandmother signed this under "undue influence"

Just trying to see what my options are.

The will does not need to be notarized. As things stand with the latest will, you do not stand to inherit.

Your option is to consult with an attorney with experience in will contests to determine if your reason to believe that there was undue influence carries any weight.

thanks for your response. When my aunt went to probate my grandmothers estate, they would not accept this Will because it was not notarized/original. I have been notified of a court hearing to "establish lost will/copy".

My father's probate is still open and that is why finding out if my dad should have been a beneficiary is important.

I have an attorney who says that we have a case.. I'm just wanted second opinions.

Then, it seems that you have a forum for getting the will invalidated and that your attorney will know best how TN treats admission of will copies. Undue influence is a tougher, and usually more expensive, case to prove.

Since your father predeceased your grandmother, your father's estate is not relevant. If he had survived her and stood to inherit under her will, then his bequest would be payable to his estate. But he did not.

The key is to get the will copy knocked out and either:

1) Have a prior will that mentioned your father (and did not have a clause stating that only survivor(s) inherit) admitted, or
2) Have the estate administered under intestate succession.

they would not accept this Will because it was not notarized/original.

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For whatever reasons the instrument that your aunt presented to the court was denied admission to probate, it was not because the purported testator’s signature was not notarized.

With the exception of a self-proved will – none of the states require the presence of a notary public in the execution and witnessing of such a document. That would be too restrictive of a process, which the law encourages.