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Beneficiary of my uncles will

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swalker01

Junior Member
My uncle passed away in January of 2022. He had his will done several years ago when all of his siblings were still alive. There were 4 of them but . now 3 of the 4 have passed away. He had his niece to be his Executor. In the will it was written that his estate would be divided amongst his 4 siblings and in the event that they pass away it would then get divided amongst their children. We have had to call into the lawyer with our info like SS# and address, etc so it seems like we are all beneficiaries but none of us have ever received a copy of the will. Were all the beneficiaries supposed to get a copy of the will? Or can it be up to the Executor to decide if we get a copy? I have been an Executor before and we read the will and everyone that was in it got a copy of the will within 2 weeks or so. Thanks! This is in Iowa
 


adjusterjack

Senior Member
Were all the beneficiaries supposed to get a copy of the will?
Did you contact the niece executor to ask for a copy? If yes, what did she say?

If not, why not? I would seem to have been the logical thing to do.

It's a moot point anyway, since the will would have been filed with the probate court and become public record.

You can probably get a copy from the probate court in the county where your uncle died, as well as whatever else is in the probate file.

Try that.
 

swalker01

Junior Member
Ok thanks! The sad reality is that she isn't really doing her job as it should have been done. Her mother is the only living sibling of my uncle and she is a bit bitter that she will only get Executor fees and nothing else since her mother is still alive. So...she is not up for questions and the lawyer that my uncle used is so old school he doesn't even use email. I will ask my cousins what they want to do next and probably do what you said and ask the probate court for a copy.
Thank you!
 

swalker01

Junior Member
It is not complex at all. He owned a house and they have that sold( it is sale pending but should be all done soon) along with his car and a couple other things worth a little money. We are not sure how much money he had but everything is pretty much wrapped up which is why things seem a little weird to all of us. The lawyer did tell my brother that he had to pretty much chase her down to get anything done....which is why the ad that you put in the paper to let everyone know that if he owed anyone money was finally put in the paper in the end of April. None of us knew we were even mentioned in the will until May. Do you think we could call the lawyer and ask him questions since we are supposedly beneficiaries of the estate? Thank you!
 

zddoodah

Active Member
My uncle passed away in January of 2022. He had his will done several years ago when all of his siblings were still alive. There were 4 of them but . now 3 of the 4 have passed away.
How long is "several years"? Was this uncle related by blood (i.e., was he your father's or mother's brother) or by marriage? Assuming one of the four siblings is/was your father or mother, is he or she still alive? Did the three of his siblings who have died all die before your uncle died?


He had his niece to be his Executor.
Has she been appointed as executor by the probate court? This niece is your cousin, correct?


In the will it was written that his estate would be divided amongst his 4 siblings and in the event that they pass away it would then get divided amongst their children.
In the next sentence of your post, you tell us that you've never seen the will, so how could you possibly know this?

Would it be correct to assume that, at the time of his death, your uncle was not married and that he had no children, grandchildren, etc.?


Were all the beneficiaries supposed to get a copy of the will?
Generally speaking, all statutory heirs and anyone else named in the will is entitled to a copy.


she is a bit bitter that she will only get Executor fees and nothing else since her mother is still alive. So...she is not up for questions
So...she was up for telling you that she is bitter about this but couldn't be bothered to provide you with a copy of the will?


the lawyer that my uncle used is so old school he doesn't even use email.
The lawyer that your uncle used to prepare the will? Why does this matter? Some lawyer who represented your uncle when he was alive has no involvement once he's died, UNLESS the lawyer is the executor OR the executor hires that lawyer. Did your cousin hire this same lawyer to serve has her attorney in her capacity as executor?


Do you think we could call the lawyer and ask him questions since we are supposedly beneficiaries of the estate?
I ASSUME you have the ability to make a phone call. Whether this attorney will answer your questions depends on the nature of his current involvement and what your questions are.
 

swalker01

Junior Member
How long is "several years"? Was this uncle related by blood (i.e., was he your father's or mother's brother) or by marriage? Assuming one of the four siblings is/was your father or mother, is he or she still alive? Did the three of his siblings who have died all die before your uncle died?

Well for sure before 2003. He is my mothers brother. She passed away in 2003. There is 1 of my uncles siblings still alive.


Has she been appointed as executor by the probate court? This niece is your cousin, correct?

She was named the Executor in my uncles will. Yes she is my cousin and it is her mother that is still alive.


In the next sentence of your post, you tell us that you've never seen the will, so how could you possibly know this?

Would it be correct to assume that, at the time of his death, your uncle was not married and that he had no children, grandchildren, etc.?

Well my cousin who is the Executor......her brother has seen the will and was telling us what was partly in the Will. Yes, you are correct about never being married or having children.


Generally speaking, all statutory heirs and anyone else named in the will is entitled to a copy.

That is what we figured but since he died last January and we have never received one we were wondering why we have not. I have been the beneficiary in a couple of other wills and received one in the mail within a few weeks or so after they passed away.


So...she was up for telling you that she is bitter about this but couldn't be bothered to provide you with a copy of the will?

Yes.....we went to help her clean out the house and she was nothing but ungrateful and bitter.....complaining the whole time. Also, it is very obvious that she really does not know what she is doing as Executor and I am not sure that the lawyer is giving her guidance or if she just isn't getting it.



The lawyer that your uncle used to prepare the will? Why does this matter? Some lawyer who represented your uncle when he was alive has no involvement once he's died, UNLESS the lawyer is the executor OR the executor hires that lawyer. Did your cousin hire this same lawyer to serve has her attorney in her capacity as executor?

She is using the same lawyer that prepared the Will for my uncle. She pretty much is blaming him for the slow process. He passed away in January and we did not even know we were named in the Will until May. We all just figured the living sister got everything lol


I ASSUME you have the ability to make a phone call. Whether this attorney will answer your questions depends on the nature of his current involvement and what your questions are.

I do have the ability to make a phone call ....yes he is helping her go through the process...I just thought that I would ask a question here before I asked him for a copy since any other time we got one without even asking. Thanks!
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
..I just thought that I would ask a question here before I asked him for a copy since any other time we got one without even asking.
You have all day to get a copy of the will from the courthouse. But you didn't. Why is that?
 

zddoodah

Active Member
In your follow up post #8, you responded to my questions within the quote box, which makes it really hard to tell what's being quoted and what the response is.

You wrote that your cousin "was named the Executor in [your] uncle[']s will," but that's not responsive to my question about whether she was appointed as executor by the court. Simply being nominated in a will does not give the nominated person any authority to act as executor.

Bottom line...assuming you are named in the will, you're entitled to a copy, so that answers the only questions you asked. However, you need to get a copy of the will -- either from your cousin or the lawyer she hired or, if probate has been filed, from the court. Until you can tell us what the will actually says -- as opposed to what someone told you it says -- there's nothing else we can do for you here.
 
Well.....I did get a copy of the will and it is distributed exactly as we were told that it was. The executor sold the house and car and everything that was of value. Now she says that she is cashing in a couple of CD's that he had in the bank this month (November 2022) so that we do not get a penalty. So, none of us have received our share of the estate that we are entitled to because the executor said that she is going to have to wait until after the first of the year to do taxes and that she will not be cutting any checks until April or May? Is this even the way that it is suppose to happen or is she just holding back still? Do they really have to wait until after the first of the year to do taxes? I don't recall this happening before when we were part of an estate. Thanks in advance!
 

bcr229

Active Member
Have you asked for a list of assets and estate debts? The asset list was due to be field with the court six months after probate was opened.

The estate does have to file a tax return and they're just tricky enough that a CPA should do it. Since the first quarter calendar year is a busy time for CPA's it may not get done until next April.

I realize that you're impatient but waiting may be the smartest move for the executor. When my mom passed her financial records were a mess and we didn't learn of several assets, such as IRA's, in her name until the end of the year when the annual statements were mailed out. Mom was too young to have to take RMD's from them so nothing was showing up in her bank accounts, and she hadn't kept the annual statements from prior years or even designated beneficiaries as the custodians changed over the years, so they became estate assets.
 
Have you asked for a list of assets and estate debts? The asset list was due to be field with the court six months after probate was opened.

The estate does have to file a tax return and they're just tricky enough that a CPA should do it. Since the first quarter calendar year is a busy time for CPA's it may not get done until next April.

I realize that you're impatient but waiting may be the smartest move for the executor. When my mom passed her financial records were a mess and we didn't learn of several assets, such as IRA's, in her name until the end of the year when the annual statements were mailed out. Mom was too young to have to take RMD's from them so nothing was showing up in her bank accounts, and she hadn't kept the annual statements from prior years or even designated beneficiaries as the custodians changed over the years, so they became estate assets.
We have not asked for a list of assets. That will be the next thing that we will do.

I guess I am just asking all of this because my cousin, who is also a beneficiary, called our cousin who is the executor and asked her how things were going and she told her that she is not going to talk about the will and the only info she would say was that she probably won't be cutting checks until April or May. She has been very rude to all of us since my uncle passed and her brother is going all around town saying that we are all money grubbers and telling everyone else how much money my uncle had! Totally disrespectful!

Thanks so much for replying to my post!!
 

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