Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arizona
My father passed away, need some advice please....
My father passed away last week and my aunt, his sister, came down for the services. My father is remarried and his will, that my aunt wrote up for him while he was in the hospital and had it witnessed by a nurse or social worker, leaves everything to my father. Now, my aunt keeps saying, ''dad's estate'' every time I mention I want something. I would like the things that belonged to my mom prior to her marriage to my dad, but my aunt keeps saying no, since it is part of ''dad's estate''. My question is this, if my dad had things that belonged to me, do I have a right to have them or are they also going to be withheld from me by my aunt and step mom since they are in dad's home? When I moved out, I left a closet full of things and now I'm worried, the way they are acting, they will keep those things from me too. Is this possible?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: My father passed away, need some advice please....
Your situation raises a lot of questions. First, why was your aunt drafting your father's will? Did she cause him to leave any part of the estate to her? Was she working in concert with your step-mother? Did either your aunt or step-mother exert undue influence over your father in getting him to sign the will?
Your property that was stored in your dad's home remains your property. It does not become part of your dad's estate.
If your mom left all her property to your dad, he did have the power to leave it to your step-mom, even if that's not what your mom would have wanted. However, this highlights the possibility that undue influence may have been exerted by your aunt or step-mother, or both, as it doesn't seem likely that your father would have wanted to do this on his own.
This is a difficult situation. I hope what I've told you helps.
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