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Beneficiary

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Drummer6350

Guest
State of New York: What are my rights as a beneficiary. I have tried to contact the lawyer who handled the will of a close friend who named my wife and I as a beneficiary. Our last contact with the lawyer was 8 years ago when he informed us that we were a benificiary. He has failed to respond to my letters. We wanted to be at the reading of the will, but were never informed. The executor has never contacted us either.
 


ALawyer

Senior Member
8 Years? What were you waiting for?

Your first step - and maybe the last - is to go to the probate court (in NY it is called the Surrogate's Court) in the county in which the decedent lived and see if the Will was filed, and if opne was, see what it says. There is no required "reading of a will" despite the movies. If the estate was too small, there may have been nothing left. Or a spouse may have elected her/his statutory share and that could wipe out the estate. Or there may hve been a later will. Or he may have lied to you about the will, or the will he told you about may not have been signed or filed for probate.
 
A

advisor10

Guest
2-19-2002

DEAR DRUMMER:

You really do need to go to the county courthouse to look at the probate file to examine the estate's financial information to see how this estate was handled.

It could be possible that a large amount of debts or taxes reduced the estate so low that nothing was available to be distributed to heirs. However, it seems that if that were the case, the executor would have a moral responsibility to at least notify you by letter that you would not be receiving anything, especially since they knew you were expecting to inherit.

Something seems a little bit suspicious. Let's hope that the executor did not run off with the monies that should have been distributed to heirs. Ask the probate court clerk if it is a requirement in your state or county that an executor post a bond. If the answer is yes, you or the executor may be able to file a claim with the bond insurance company to recover any monies that were stolen. If no bond was posted, you might have to file a lawsuit against the executor to claim any monies that you did not lawfully receive.

SINCERELY,

advisor
 

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