How can you locate a deceased relative’s will if the attorney holding it never filed it with the court?

Lexi, Chatbot

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you're facing regarding your grandfather's will. Have you had any communication with the lawyer who was handling your grandfather's estate?

Lexi, Chatbot

Do you know if your grandfather's will was ever filed with the probate court?

Lexi, Chatbot

Is there anything else the Estate Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured, they'll be able to help with your inheritance issue.

Queeneth E. Esq

Hello and welcome to our service. My name is Queeneth. I am an attorney with over 8 years of legal experience. I will do my best to assist you today. First, I need to ask you a few questions to give you the best answer. (Kindly note that our conversation does not establish an attorney-client relationship.)

Can you please tell me which state or country your grandfather lived in when he passed away? Do you know if anyone else in your family has seen a copy of the will or mentioned its contents to you?

Queeneth E. Esq

The first thing to do is find out whether a probate case was ever opened in the county where your grandfather lived when he died. A will usually becomes useful to the public only once it is filed with the probate court. When a will is filed after death, it generally becomes a public record that you can get from the clerk or probate court. So the practical order is:

1. Identify the county and state where your grandfather resided at death.
2. Search that county's probate docket or case search under his full name. Many courts let you search by the deceased person's name to see whether a will was deposited or a probate case was opened.
   • If you find a case, contact the probate clerk and request the filed will and probate file. Once filed, it is usually public.
   • If you do not find a case, that does not prove there was no will. It may mean no one filed it, or that assets passed outside probate. That last point matters a lot, even wealthy people sometimes leave little or nothing in the probate estate because assets may pass by trust, beneficiary designation, payable-on-death or transfer-on-death account, joint ownership, or other non-probate transfer, not by will. A will only controls the probate estate, not everything a person owned.
   • So there are really two different possibilities: there was a will and it was filed, in which case you may be able to get it from the probate court. There was a will but nobody filed it, in which case you may need a probate lawyer in that state or county to push the issue. Or there was little or nothing going through probate because property passed outside the will, in which case the will may exist but may not tell the whole story.
3. If the lawyer truly never turned it in, the next realistic move is usually not arguing with the lawyer informally. It is hiring a probate or estate litigation attorney in the county of death to search the probate court file, check whether any will was deposited for safekeeping, determine whether a trust was used instead of a will, and, if appropriate, ask the court to require production of the will or open the estate. Notably, most states impose a legal duty on whoever holds a decedent's original will to lodge it with the proper court within a set time after learning of the death.

Is there anything else you would like me to explain or any additional information you need? Feel free to ask.