Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts
Is a codicil to a will legal if you do not have the original will.
How can I find copy of a will. My brother had power of attorney and he know claims he cannot find my Dad's will. He has the codicil but not the orignal will and claims everything is now in his name. I know in the original will everything was left equally to all of the children. What recourse do I have?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Is a codicil to a will legal if you do not have the original will.
This situation occurs more often than you might think. Your inquiry should start with trying to find out if your dad had an attorney who he regularly used for personal matters. That route has a likelihood of leading you to the attorney who prepared the will. Additionally, you should probably have an attorney apply substantial pressure to your brother to come up with the earlier will. I have often been able to do this by informing the person that the will will be discovered by someone, somehow and someway, and that they can spare themselves the negative inferences that a court could draw in a will contest (and the court could in fact draw such a negative inference by your brother's failure to produce a will he knows to exist) by producing the earlier version.
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Re: Is a codicil to a will legal if you do not have the original will.
It is not illegal.
You may seek a copy from the person who drafted it.
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