Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Maine

A Will must be offered for Probate once it is known that the testator (maker of the Will) is deceased. You can start with checking the County Probate Court where your father lived to see if it has been filed. As an heir you should receive Notice when it is filed even if you do not check. You could also go to the most likely lawyer's offices that your father may have used and inform them that he is deceased and that the Will should therefore be deposited with the Probate Court or turned over to the Personal Representative. Refer to Maine statute 18-A MRS 2-902. If you are not named in the Will as Personal Representative, then the lawyers may not disclose to you one way or the other if they have a Will but they are ethically obligated to turn it over to the Court, and you will eventually get notice. Hiding a Will, or destruction of a Will, is an act in contempt of Court if it can be proven that is what your Stepmother is doing.