Grandma's will and deceased fathers inheritance

My Grandmother recently died in Illinois and has left her estate to my two uncles and all her grandkids. The problem is there were three children in the family, my father and my two uncles, however my father passed away years ago.

Originally her will split the estate amongst all three children and since my father died his portion was to be given to me. One Uncle convinced her to change the will leaving the estate to just my two uncles. The other uncle convinced her to leave it to the two uncles and a small portion to all the grandchildren thereby making sure that I wasn't forgotten completely and received a little something.

The will states "the trustee shall distribute the trust estate to my sons, UNLCE#1 and UNCLE #2 equally" and further states "in the event MY UNCLES predecease her, the share which such he would have received shall be distributed to his decendants per stirpes and not per capita, living at the time of my death"

The next paragraph states "In the event that ANY of my children shall predecease me leaving no decendants, the share which such predeceased child would have received shall be distributed to my surviving children."

My question is what about my fathers portion? Since he is dead, and not specifically named in the will do I have any claim on his portion? He wasn't specifically disinherited so do I have a case to fight for his portion? The way the will is written it seems my other cousins would stand to inherit their fathers amounts if they died before her so should I?

Another question, how seriously are typos taken? An amendment to the will adds us grandchildren to all inherit a small amount, however, I'm not sure if the amendmendment could be contested due to an error in it. The Notary certification with the amendment states my Grandmother "who is personally known to me, appeared before me this day in person and acknowledged that HE signed the instrument as HIS free and voluntary act".

Grandma was slipping in her later years and wasn't always quite there. She forgot all kinds of things, even once mentioning she forgot my father. Also, the date of the amendment occurs during a time when I'm pretty positive she couldn't leave the house. One Uncle will probably try and contest the amendment because it lessens the amount he will get.

Thanks for your assistance in this matter.
Doowron

There are lts of questions, but one thing is absolutely certain. The notary he/she thing is IRRELEVANT. A court would laugh at you and it demeans your potential claim.

As for interpreting the Will, a lawyer would really have to read the whole thing, and see EXACTLY what it says, definitions, etc.

As for the amendment, that's not very clean either.

Legal questions? Sure -- Was the first Will valid (the UNCLES ONLY WILL)? Was she then competent? Was there "undue influence"?

AS for the Amendment or Codicil was it valid? Was she then competent? Was there "undue influence"?

This cries out for a family mediation to avoid what could be a bad family feud that results in the lawyers getting the estate as legal fees. See a lawyer.

I would agree with ALawyers's analysis and say that without fully reviewing all of the dicuments and all of the surrounding facts it is impossible to determine the exact proper result. The two provisions that you cited do appear somewhat ambiguous when read together. It would require further anyalysis and context. I am an estate planning, trust and probate attorney in the Chicagoland area. If you are in the area and are interested in discussing the case, feel free to give me a call. My contact info is on my website at http://www.illinoisestateplan.com

Thank you both for your input.

Family mediation would be the best approach but most likely wouldn't work. There has been a lot of jockeying and poitioning for Grandmas money in her final years and lots of bad blood created because of it. Undue influence, sure. Can it be proved, I don't know. Is it a road worth traveling, that is a tough question.

Thanks again.