How do you find out if a will was made from a deceased parent?

Question

Are wills recorded, do you have to hire an attorney for search.
Deceased parent re-married, spouse will not communicate with me about estate/will.

Answer 1

Wills don't have to be filed with any agency until after the person is deceased. Wills have to be probated, which means submitted to the court, but this doesn't happen until after the person died.

You can contact the probate clerk in the county where your parent lived, and ask if probate has been opened for him/her. If it has been opened, you can get copies of everything in the file for the costs of copying fees.

You could also try calling lawyers in that area to see if they might have prepared the will for your deceased parent.

If you think your deceased parent had a will, but the surviving spouse is not submitting it for probate, or if there is no will, you can file to have the estate probated as "intestate", which means without a will. If this happens, the court will order the assets divided according to intestate laws of that state. If there is a will, that's when the widow will have to produce the will.

There may not be any assets that need to go to probate, however.

Many married people own their assets as "joint owners with rights of survivorship". That means that when one owner dies, their interest in the property is divided among the surviving owners. So if parent and step-parent owned that way, the surviving spouse gets full ownership of the property. In addition, if there is a pension or life insurance payout, that goes to any designated beneficiaries without being part of the estate of the deceased.

The only assets that might be able to be split could be personal momentos.

Also, if it hasn't been very long since your parent passed away, the widow might not have had time to even think about probate.

Answer 2

Wills are offered for probate in the local Superior Court after the death of the testator, and this hearing is where any person having a claim against the estate can appear and present their claim. What you can do is contact the clerk of the court, give them the name and date of death of your parent, and they can tell you if the will is scheduled for probate..
Another good source would be the executor, unless of course that is your step parent. If that is the case, then the rule of law is that there is a presumption of undue influence over your parent,
and what courts do is they negate any bequest to that person. If the whole estate went to the executor, I suspect that a court would be likely to invalidate the will and treat the case by law of
intestate succession.
What that means is that the estate would be divided according to specific rules contained in the probate code.

Answer 3

You should contact an attorney since the spouse won't communicate with you. They can advise you of your rights under intestacy if there is no will. They can also assist you in forcing the spouse to probate the estate even if there is a will.

Answer 4

go to your county court house and ask for the will on the person , that will tell you if there is one and if you are blood then take a id and birth certificate and you'' ll be able to see it , but warning the spouse has all rights unless marked in the will. its a shame there is nothing done about this for the deceded kids. my girlfriend lost here dad back in 2004 and he mothere died back in 1990 and he father remarried 3 mounths later and a year later came up with a brain tumor he finalyy past in 04 with his will being change evertime after 3 surgerys due to his new wife ( she was also a judges secertey) so she knew the moves to make. anyway after he lost eye site and memory after each surgery she had his will changed to he name and the kids got nothing form there child hood ( cause she told him to sell everything even the house they grew up in before she would marry him (sad) but unless noted in the will you wont get nothing but sadness ( i feel sorry for you) but go to the court house and look they will show you it. you alos can contest the will if u feel its not right. let me know what happens .