A will I never saw

[Buffalo9555]

What is the name of your state? NY
years ago i believe an uncle somehow screwed me over when my grandfather passed. My mother died young and uncle was his only remaining child. I received a one page court paper stating the amount i was to get, a miniscule amount. Grandfather had told me many times how much i was to get, this amount wasnt nearly that. I was young and didnt question It. I never knew what my grandfathers assests were. Was it legal that i wasnt given a copy of the entire will? Thank you for considering this question.

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state? NY
years ago i believe an uncle somehow screwed me over when my grandfather passed. My mother died young and uncle was his only remaining child. I received a one page court paper stating the amount i was to get, a miniscule amount. Grandfather had told me many times how much i was to get, this amount wasnt nearly that. I was young and didnt question It. I never knew what my grandfathers assests were. Was it legal that i wasnt given a copy of the entire will? Thank you for considering this question.

How many years ago was this? Did you request a copy of the will? How old were you at the time?

 

[Buffalo9555]

Thank you, i was 19. Didnt request anything. It was 20 years ago

 

[Taxing Matters]

Was it legal that i wasnt given a copy of the entire will?

If he had a will that was probated then once the will is submitted to the court it becomes a public record. So at the time you could have just looked at the court probate file and read the entire will if you wanted. If this was in NY, that would have been the Surrogate's court for the county where your grandfather resided when he died. Currently it appears that NY law does not require that the executor automaticaly give the heirs or beneficiaries an actual copy of the will. The executor is required to provide you a notice (called a citation) informing you of the estate and his/her petition to be confirmed as the estate personal representative. Interested beneficiaries may, of course, ask the executor for a copy of the will. I doubt that NY required that you get a full copy of the will automatically 20 years ago. So if you didn't either ask for a copy of the will or go to the court yourself to see the will then it appears that not getting the full will is mostly on you here. If you had wanted it at the time, you could have easily gotten it. You just needed to take some action.

You don't mention what the will actually gave to you. Do you know what you should have gotten, or have you still never seen it?

In any event, 20 years after the fact it is way too late to challenge the estate distribution.

 

[Buffalo9555]

If he had a will that was probated then once the will is submitted to the court it becomes a public record. So at the time you could have just looked at the court probate file and read the entire will if you wanted. If this was in NY, that would have been the Surrogate's court for the county where your grandfather resided when he died. Currently it appears that NY law does not require that the executor automaticaly give the heirs or beneficiaries an actual copy of the will. The executor is required to provide you a notice (called a citation) informing you of the estate and his/her petition to be confirmed as the estate personal representative. Interested beneficiaries may, of course, ask the executor for a copy of the will. I doubt that NY required that you get a full copy of the will automatically 20 years ago. So if you didn't either ask for a copy of the will or go to the court yourself to see the will then it appears that not getting the full will is mostly on you here. If you had wanted it at the time, you could have easily gotten it. You just needed to take some action.

You don't mention what the will actually gave to you. Do you know what you should have gotten, or have you still never seen it?

In any event, 20 years after the fact it is way too late to challenge the estate distribution.

Thank you for clarifying those issues.

 

[commentator]

Also, sad but true, sometimes older people like to dandle grandchildren on their knee and tell them (meantime telling themselves) "I've looked after you, my dear, when I'm gone, you'll be well taken care of, I've left you $xxxxxx which would've been your dear mother's share of my estate." And sometimes they overestimate or overstate what might be left of that money after their late-in-life care is paid for, their funeral and estate expenses are paid, etc. And what you end up getting, not due to any cheating on the executor's part, is a mere pittance. My grandmother inherited, rather late in her life a large sum of money from her childless brother. However, she spend the next few years in very expensive health care, not eligible for Medicaid because of her assets. When she was gone, so were most of those assets. We grandchildren who were going to be "fixed for life because of good old Uncle So and So" ended up with very little. You were young at the time, and knew what you'd always been told, but probably didn't pay a lot of attention to what else may have been going on in your grandfather's situation.

 

[zddoodah]

Was it legal that i wasnt given a copy of the entire will?

I don't know. It depends on what the will said. Normally, copies of a will should be given to or made available to anyone who is (1) named in the will or (2) an heir at law (i.e., a person who would inherit from the deceased if the deceased had died without a will). If you were notified that you were named in the will and that your grandfather's estate was being probated, you could have requested a copy of the will.

Of course, after 20 years, it's way too late do do anything about it or worry about what happened.

 

[Buffalo9555]

Also, sad but true, sometimes older people like to dandle grandchildren on their knee and tell them (meantime telling themselves) "I've looked after you, my dear, when I'm gone, you'll be well taken care of, I've left you $xxxxxx which would've been your dear mother's share of my estate." And sometimes they overestimate or overstate what might be left of that money after their late-in-life care is paid for, their funeral and estate expenses are paid, etc. And what you end up getting, not due to any cheating on the executor's part, is a mere pittance. My grandmother inherited, rather late in her life a large sum of money from her childless brother. However, she spend the next few years in very expensive health care, not eligible for Medicaid because of her assets. When she was gone, so were most of those assets. We grandchildren who were going to be "fixed for life because of good old Uncle So and So" ended up with very little. You were young at the time, and knew what you'd always been told, but probably didn't pay a lot of attention to what else may have been going on in your grandfather's situation.

Thank you, I appreciate this!

 

[Buffalo9555]

I don't know. It depends on what the will said. Normally, copies of a will should be given to or made available to anyone who is (1) named in the will or (2) an heir at law (i.e., a person who would inherit from the deceased if the deceased had died without a will). If you were notified that you were named in the will and that your grandfather's estate was being probated, you could have requested a copy of the will.

Of course, after 20 years, it's way too late do do anything about it or worry about what happened.

Thank you!

 

[Buffalo9555]

If he had a will that was probated then once the will is submitted to the court it becomes a public record. So at the time you could have just looked at the court probate file and read the entire will if you wanted. If this was in NY, that would have been the Surrogate's court for the county where your grandfather resided when he died. Currently it appears that NY law does not require that the executor automaticaly give the heirs or beneficiaries an actual copy of the will. The executor is required to provide you a notice (called a citation) informing you of the estate and his/her petition to be confirmed as the estate personal representative. Interested beneficiaries may, of course, ask the executor for a copy of the will. I doubt that NY required that you get a full copy of the will automatically 20 years ago. So if you didn't either ask for a copy of the will or go to the court yourself to see the will then it appears that not getting the full will is mostly on you here. If you had wanted it at the time, you could have easily gotten it. You just needed to take some action.

You don't mention what the will actually gave to you. Do you know what you should have gotten, or have you still never seen it?

In any event, 20 years after the fact it is way too late to challenge the estate distribution.

What about receiving a Waiver of Process and Consent to Probate in NY state. Are you supposedto receive a copy of the will Along with it?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

What about receiving a Waiver of Process and Consent to Probate in NY state. Are you supposedto receive a copy of the will Along with it?

It doesn't matter. It was 20 years ago.

 

[Buffalo9555]

It doesn't matter. It was 20 years ago.

Apologies, i have failed to explain further. I am now a beneficiary in another will, my father. My sister is executor and i just received a Waiver of Process and Consent to Probate (in NY state.) No other document is attached.

 

[Zigner]

Apologies, i have failed to explain further. I am now a beneficiary in another will, my father. My sister is executor and i just received a Waiver of Process and Consent to Probate (in NY state.) No other document is attached.

Request a copy of the will.

 

[Buffalo9555]

Request a copy of the will.

Absolutely i will. But why would i be sent just a waiver, are they hoping i will just sign without reading the will?

 

[Zigner]

Absolutely i will. But why would i be sent just a waiver, are they hoping i will just sign without reading the will?

Your question must be rhetorical - just thinking "out loud", so to speak. There is no way any of us could know the motivations of the person(s) involved.