SEPT. 5, 2001
DEAR MISTERP:
I am not familiar with Michigan law, so you should post your question on the website
www.lawguru.com where it is more likely that a Michigan attorney can respond or speak to a local attorney about what the deadline is there for filing the will (generally, it is supposed to be within 30 days after the person's death).
There may be a good reason why the will has not yet been filed. Perhaps the estate assets are so small that it would not make much sense to be filed, but probably the real reason it hasn't been filed is that the executor may not be fully aware of the need for it to be filed in a timely fashion, or he/she may be too overwhelmed with taking care of the necessary paperwork and other activities involved that he/she has been too busy doing other things.
There is no particular advantage to not filing the will, except that it is not available yet for any interested party (beneficiary or heir) to view if it is not on file yet. If you are a beneficiary or heir who stands to gain something from the estate, then you can have an attorney file a petition with the probate court to force the executor to produce the will if the executor knows where it is (is it possible that the executor may not have located the original will yet, or is it reasonably certain that he knows where the will is?).
Just taking a copy of the death certificate to the courthouse will not permit you to put the will in probate.
Are you a relative or beneficiary or heir who expects to receive something from the estate? If so, then you really should call or write the executor to get an official explanation from them as to why it hasn't been filed yet, and at the same time you could ask the executor to send you a copy of the will. Although it would be possible for someone else to submit the will to the courthouse for probate, you run the risk of offending the executor by appearing to try to take over the executor's duties, and this would be a somewhat unkind thing to do.
It would make more sense to be reasonable and wait for the 1-2 months time it will take probably to have this estate probated, and make sure the executor knows your address and phone number so they know where to reach you when it is time to distribute the estate assets. It will take a little bit of time for the executor to claim all assets and to pay any outstanding bills (taxes, funeral expenses, debts, etc.) and the executor must first determine if there will be anything left over to distribute.
SINCERELY,
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