Death Inheritance

You would contact the executor of the Will, usually a lawyer, sometimes a family member. They have to provide you a copy of the Will if you are mentioned in it.

If you arent they will politely tell you to get lost

>>1004822
What if theyre trying to hide the fact.

>>1004827

They cant by law, but that is when you have to get your own lawyer and take the executor to probate court.

From there it gets messy. You end up with family members basically slinging the nastiest dirt they can to show that a person should be disqualified as an inheritor. Look at Anna Nicole Smith's fight for inheritance. She has been dead a decade and its STILL in court

>>1004836
But the executor isnt able to take a inheritors wealth, right? Isnt the inheritance released only to the actual person? Theyd need to sign shit and prove they are legit with various docs, right?

>>1004840

No, the executor of the Will is in control of all assets. They are the one who basically hands out the money. An executor is basically the living representative of the dead person.

>>1004853
So if one sole unknown person is in control of the will and they just vanish with all assets... how does one find them?

Wouldnt there be some type of way to use your own info to find out if money is being held somewhere for you?

>>1004869

In your situation, if an executor just disappeared, they are committing a crime. You would call the police and the police would find them.

Your second line however, no. Maybe if there was a Trust set up it would be registered with the state, but no one uses a family member as an executor when there is a Trust involved. That is almost always a lawyer.

What I dont get is, have you been told you get nothing, go away? Or do you not even know if there was a Will of any kind, and you just hope you are in it?

>>1004881
Ive actually been asked by several half siblings that my dad had alot of cash and that I probably have an inheritance.

My dad has had 3 wives and like 5 kids. I really dont know much about my half siblings or his last wife (who i think may be the exec now). He never really talked much about the external family. I am his only child with my mom.

He was always really distant and when Id hang out with him it would only be us.

>>1004898
told* rather

>>1004881
Another thing that im suspicious of is that it took them 2 weeks to come over my house (we live in the same city) to tell me he was in the hospital. He then died a hour later after I received the news.

>>1004898
In that case it leads me to believe there was no Will as you would have been contacted upon the reading.

In the absence of a Will the estate defaults to the closest living relative, which would have been his current wife.

To go any further you would need some way of showing you know there was a Will and she is hiding it (Fraud) You can hire a private investigator to look into it, but chances are high there was no actual Will, or if there was, you were not named. Like I said, not many people use family as an executor. A Lawyer is not going to let weeks/months pass before reading of the Will... they want their money too

>>1004881
You did ok with the baby questions, but now you're just making shit up. And it's wrong.

>>1004955

Then please, educate everyone on where I am wrong

>>1004969
I appreciate you taking time to reply to me.

>>1004955
please share your thoughts

>>1004969
>Then please, educate everyone on where I am wrong

Ok, fine.

>>1004853
>the executor of the Will is in control of all assets
No, the administrator of the estate is in control of all assets. The executor of the will is only in control of assets disposed of in the will. The administrator and the executor may or may not be the same person.

>>1004836
>take the executor to probate court
Probate courts only have jurisdiction while the case is open, and only over assets covered by the will. Depending on the asset and the timing, you are just as likely to be suing someone else and in some other court.

>>1004881
>You would call the police and the police would find them.
Actually, you'd go to the probate court and get a copy of the will from the court files first. You can't just run the police without evidence that a crime was committed against you.

>>1004881
>no one uses a family member as an executor when there is a Trust involved
Completely absurd. The existence of a trust has no impact on whether a family member is likely to serve as administrator, executor, trustee, or all of the above.

>>1004881
>if there was a Trust set up it would be registered with the state
Wrong. Trusts aren't "registered" with anyone, including the state.

>>1004941
>In the absence of a Will the estate defaults to the closest living relative
That's a gross simplification of the intestate inheritance rules. You'd need to consult the laws of each state to determine of lines of inheritance in the absence of a will.

Furthermore, many of assets the estate can be passed without a will according the decedent's beneficiary designations. Things like 401ks, IRAs, trusts, and real estate (in certain conditions) can be passed to whomever the decedent designated, regardless of the existence or non-existence of a will.

>>1004941
>reading of the Will
A fictional creation of television and movies. Wills get filed in probate court.

>>1005010
So go to a probate court and ask for a copy of the will upon verification of who I am? Do I need a death certificate or any other docs besides stuff that relate to me?

>>1005015
(I'm assuming here that we have a situation where there administrator and/or executor (and anyone else with a copy of the will) are being uncooperative.)

You go the website of the probate court and look up the requirements for searching for an estate and/or requesting documents. They will tell you what you need to provide and how much it costs.

If there's no estate on record, then you'll have to force it from the executor or person who has a copy. This assume you have standing, which means you have a legal right to see the will. This would include any immediate family members, any named beneficiary in the will, any creditor of the estate, and any other party with a sufficient legal or economic interest in the will or the validity of the will. You'd need to file suit against the person with the will seeking to force them to turn over a copy. You'd almost certainly need a lawyer in this situation, although in theory a smart person could try to wing it on their own.