A Mistake was made

[bpavon]

Wyoming
my grandfather pasted away in may 2001. his will has been in process ever since. in July we received a copy of the will listing all assets. listed was $53000.00 CD account. in early december we received a letter from the attorney showing the final accounting of the assets, with a court stamp and inititials, still showing $53000.00 in CD's. we received a call from the attorney yesterday informing us the total on the CD in $35000.00 not $53000.00. this is after the will has gone through probate and he was attempting to release funds when he found the mistake.

my question is how could this mistake get through the court and why did'nt the attorney verify the all the assets of the estate? is he required to verify these assets? do I, as a heir, have a right to demand bank records from may of 2001, the month my grandfather died, to make sure no withdrawls were made.

 

[advisor10]

1-17-2002

DEAR BPAVON:

What seems to have happened here is an honest mistake such as a simple typographical error (secretary could have mistyped it at the law office on the will) , or your grandfather could have even made the mistake himself by getting the numbers reversed in his mind (he thought it was 53 when it was actually 35).

Instead of asking for your grandfather's bank account information (which would probably NOT show the CD info, since that information is held in a different department), you should request official documentation of the CD amount from the bank, or have the official executor/attorney do it.

SINCERELY,

advisor