My father just died and my stepmother will not tell me if there was a will or not.  How do I find out?
612082
He should have designated someone as the executor of his will. Maybe a close friend? If there is anything for you in the will, you will find out soon enough, as you have to be notified. I am so terribly sorry for your loss, and if it makes you feel better, sneak around and do what you have to do to obtain what is rightfully yours. Fight fire with fire, I say.
440997
A will is a legal document.  Check with your local court that handles estates (surrogate court or probate court) and ask them your options.  Good luck to you.
64213
It's doubtful that you will find something like that on the internet. I have never heard of the "at least one dollar" and I have lost both parents. Your best bet is to contact the executor of the will.
198462
It may depend on who your father designated as executor.\nIf the CD's were held in Joint Custody they should allow your mother to know. Contact the Banking Commisioner in the state where your father died.
29918
If there is no father, the state takes it. If the father and stepmother aren't married anymore or the father is dead and there is no will, the former stepmother has no connection to the child.
1032780
Yes it is public record. Contact the county seat where he lived-the Clerk of Court's office will have a copy on record.\n\nWhen my father in law died, his wife refused to let us see the will. We went tot he clerk's office, got a copy, and I believe we had to pay a nominal fee for a copy-I believe it was merely the cost of having the document photocopied. \n\nGood luck to you!\n\n\n*edit-Upon further reading I see you are form Va-Me too. It's very easy to get a copy of the document-go for it.
413585
Check with Probate Court in your county, the will should have been probated, and the information will be on file there.
288330
I'm so sorry to hear about your father.  You would need to either look at his will and/or talk to his attorney. It all depends on how many siblings and your father's choice.
579785
Go see a lawyer IN THE SAME STATE AS YOUR FATHER and explain this situation.  Then hang around your father like a tick on a cold day until he signs a will.\n\nThis is the only good way to protect your mother from poverty or delayed property transfers while she is grieving.  All this should be settled now, in advance, based on the blessing of your father knowing he's going to die as well as about WHEN that's going to happen.\n\nYour mother's grief will be ENORMOUSLY AGGRAVATED if her husband dies without a will ("intestate" is the word for that).
599103
Dear Friend,\n\nThis is essentially two questions -- one sounding in contract and one sounding in real estate.  \n\nFirst, at or before the time your father was buried, there should have been an agreement made with the cemetary as to how the grave would be kept.  Who made that agreement with the cemetary?  What did it say about your stepmother?\n\nSecond, who owns the plot?  If your family owns it/bought it/ paid for it, their word is final.  If not, not.\n\nTalk to the cemetary about who gets to make this decision.\n\nYours in Him,\nFrancesois
343364
My father just passed without a will so I've been through something similar.\nIf there is a will then the law is to follow the instructions of the will. It can be contested but that takes time and money.\nIf there is no will then someone has to send a petition to the courts in his, the deceased, state and request to be appointed guardian/executor of the estate. It is easier to have the "permission" of the other siblings so it won't be contested. Once the court approves the petition then his estate, assests thereof, will be used, sold if necessary to pay off any and all debts the person had. What is left after that is divided between the surviving brothers and/or sisters. Children of deceased siblings are not usually included in the division, but can be. Hope this helps.
470716
You can only get things online when they have been put online by someone (I guess that is a "no duh" statement).  I seriously doubt someone's (a living person's) will would be online unless they purposely put it there.  Most people keep their wills in a safe deposit box.  It may possibly end up online after they have already passed away if it goes through probate.  Other documents may end up online (like wedding or death certificates) because they are public record at the county clerk's office.  They might be found online if your county images documents and has a website.
34971
A will must be processed (probated) at the probate court where the deceased person lived (or owned real estate).  When that is done, a person is assigned to carry out everything within the will.  That person can be a relative or lawyer or whomever the deceased assigned to do it in the will.  The probate court records is where you can get the information you seek as far as a copy of the will and the person or lawyer who is responsible for carrying out everything that is stipulated in the will.\n\nAfter reading the will, you will know what is supposed to be done.  You can also research any court proceedings that have transpired to see what has been done and what was filed with the court so far.  The property within the estate and its value must be filed with the court.  Court personnel will often be very helpful in helping you find what you're looking for or just pointing you in the right direction.  Try to get there at a time when they're not very busy.  For free legal advice, a good source is often the librarian at a nearby law library.  These are generally found at one of your nearby courthouses or at a nearby law school.  You might also consider getting a book at your local bookstore or library on how to probate an estate.  This will teach you the terms you'll need to learn to communicate properly with all the specialized words and learn what is supposed to be done in general by whomever is handling the will.\n\nThen if you find that you don't agree with what is happening as compared to what is supposed to be happening, you will need to speak with a good estate attorney for assistance if you find you can't handle the problem yourself.\n\nGood luck!
56405
Well, you obviously can't ask them, so you would ask their next of kin. But, really, it depends on WHAT you want to know. No one will or should give you medical info, for example, on someone who died. On the other hand, someone very publicly known who dies may have enough obituaries written in newspapers to give you the info you need.\n\nImran
407040
Was it already probated?  If so there'd be a copy at the court house.  If not it has to come either from his lawyer or another family member who has a copy.  Most locations a copy is good enough if it bears the signatures of the person and witnesses.  Some however don't allow copies to be used.  If you're arguing over the will it will be going to court anyway so why not ask the family member?  They'll be compeled by the court to produce it anyway regardless of it's contested or not.
111503
Some states have a register of wills. Check with your local court house. \n\nSecondly, get an attorney ASAP, if there is no will found. It will need to go through probate, and the sooner you start the quicker you'll get through all the nonsense. Probate would involve all of her unsecured debt being paid off prior to distributing any money to living siblings. All siblings would have to be contacted, and the estated would be divided equauly.
367485
This is controlled by state statute; it's different for every state.  Usually the will will list an executor who will handle the distributions in the will.  It can often take over a month to get around to reading the will to the heirs, though there's no reason for it to take so long.  It frequently take MUCH longer-up to 3-9 months--to "probate" a will through the court process.\n\nIf you're concerned, you should call the 'clerk of court' in the state and county where your relative died.  They will adivse you on local procedure.