Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arizona
My husband's great aunt (by marriage) left a do-it-yourself fill-in style form as her will. She and her husband filled them out at the same time, and had them "witnessed" by a couple of their friends. (Not actual notary) His Uncle preceded her in death and according to their wills, their spouse was named as beneficiary. When his Aunt died, there were 3 people (she named them, which I will omit, and followed their names with [1]"nephew by marriage" and [2]"grand nephews by marriage", respectively, listed as beneficiaries to her estate to divide and "share and share equally", and a fourth person (my husband's mother - Aunt's neice-by-marriage) as executrix, with an allowance that she be entitled to 10% of the estate. Also, the words "none other than these named shall be entitled to any assets" was added below these beneficiaries shortly after the date of the original draft, and in her own hand. The 3 nephews and the executrix (niece-by-marriage) all have the same understanding that her intent was to give 10% to the executrix and divide the remaining 90% between the 3 named nephews. The executrix, living in Calif. had a personal representative named since the estate was in Arizona, and she felt this to be beneficial. All 3 nephews live in Calif as well. The P.R. paid the creditors, and then decided that the Will was "ambiguous" stating that nephew-by-marriage, grand-nephews-by-marriage, and neice-by-marriage "might" mean others (other nephews and neices) in the family, and proceeded to do a very expensive heir search without consulting a judge for direction on this. Now, an obscure person, not found on any of our genealogy searches we had already possessed (unrelated to this probate - for personal enjoyment), has been made aware of the heir search through this 3rd party searcher, and is stating that she is a deserving beneficiary, stating that our consensus regarding the wording in the will is "too simplistic." We have been told very little about her, except that she works for the judiciary system, and her husband may be a District Attorney.
Is this 11th hour claim common? What should we be concerned about? Will investigation of this person's claims cost the estate, even if she is found to be invalid? Is there any research we can do from our end? What possible division could be reached of the estate, since allowance for an additional person is not stipulated by our aunt? My husband, his brother, their mother (the executrix - who was always very close to the aunt), and their cousin are meek people. One of the things they want is for their aunt's intentions to be honored. Can an unnamed person simple state that they are entitled to a part of the estate. How is proof of their claim established?
Our aunt died in February of 2009 and here it is July 2010. How long can all this take?
I keep trying to make sense of this and I can't!
Thank you for your time."
1 Answer from Attorneys
The PR is AZ owes a fiduciary duty to all parties interested in the estate, including creditors and heirs, to administer the estate according to the Will and State law. I cannot tell you if the PR violated its duties to look for other heirs or decide that the will is ambiguous, but you/the heirs should take immediate action to hire legal counsel and start dealing with the PR, and if necessary, go to court and seek court orders protecting the interests of the heirs.
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