can't find the will

[glo77]

Post is from IL....My husband died 4 years ago ...we had an emergency will faxed to the hospital which was read to him and then signed by him and 2 witnesses.

I am selling a home we purchased about 25 years ago hopefully at the end of the month.

When the realtor did the Title Deed search it was discovered that our deed was NOT Joint Tenancy with survivorship. We did both sign it and many other things in that closing, I paid off the home with Insurance proceeds but last August decided to move closer to my daughter so bought a home in different area of the State. I am under a mortgage now and financially needing to sell that home and be able to support myself til I am old enough to retire.

I am beneficiary on all that he had..with our 2 grown children as beneficiaries should neither of us be surviving. What will happen if I can't find this will. Our names are both on the deed listied as husband and wife, but does not have those other words about Joint tenancy and survivorship. I have torn this house apart the past two day.. I am sick inside and quite frightened the whole sale may fall through.

Thanks for any input you might have. My attorney has only a copy of the time and Hospital he sent the Fax to...
I really thought I had made a trip to the County Courthouse, but when i called them they could find no record of the will. I did not check with Probate though so perhaps I should start there. it is all such a blur as my father and then my Mother also passes within months. I had too many things and paperwork to keep straigh and have as of now lost the most important paper to me,
Thanks
Gloria

 

[ALawyer]

If you can't find the Wwill or get a copy of what you recall he signed and have the witnesses confirm that, and then get it admitted to probate, get the other heirs to the estate to waive any claim. You'll really need your lawyer to assist you as I doubt that you can do it yourself fast enough.

 

[advisor10]

2-12-2002

DEAR GLO77:

RELAX! You are stressing out unneccessarily about what, I admit, IS a very important matter. You may not even need a copy of the will.

Illinois has a concept of tenancy-in-common, that assumes that home will be owned by husband AND wife.

Now that a title search has been done, you found out that it was NOT joint tenancy with right of survivorship. The main thing is, are you and your husband's names listed as owners of the home, according to the title/deed? Has either you or your husband been responsible for paying the most recent bill for property taxes?

You may want to consult with a real estate attorney to find out if you need to do anything else about this matter to protect your interests and make sure everything is done correctly--in fact, it would be the smart thing to consult with a real estate attorney.

Just for your own information, you should check specifically with the probate court to see if a probate file was opened on your husband. If there is, the will is supposed to be in there, along with any other information regarding the estate. You should also check to see if there is any mention of the house in there and whether or not title was officially changed in any way to reflect your name as the correct legal owner. If the change was not done officially during probate, you may want to have it done now, but of course, check with your real estate attorney first.

It's probably okay for you to go ahead and sell the home, since you are the owner, but if there was an official executor of your husband's estate, it might be possible that the executor is the only person with the legal responsibility of selling the home and then giving the money to you (again, you would need to check with your real estate attorney about this).

Even if there was no will, the only legal heirs of your husband's property would be you and your children, so there really is no chance of anyone else being able to have a claim to it.

I get the feeling that the sale IS going to go through okay after you get an official title that shows you as the official, sole owner of the property. Good luck to you and I hope everything works out to your advantage!

SINCERELY,

advisor

 

[glo77]

Thank You!!!

Thank you so very much for taking the time to respond to my situation, and for your words of encouragement. I do now have a Real Estate attorney resolving this matter. Did stress me out for a while...but am trusting all will go through with the home sale just fine now!!!!!
Life sure can get complicated at times, and well just wish I had my best friend right here to help sort this out...but then there wouldn't have even been anything to sort out.

Once again my sincere appreciation to you

Gloria