Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: Continuation ofEstate & executor of moms will.

Thanks for your question. I am sorry about your loss.

If your mom died leaving a will, that will is required to be filed in the Probate Court of the county in which she was last "domiciled" (had a permanent residence) no later than 30 days following the date of death. If she died without a will, the practice is for one of the heirs (in this case, children) to take out a petition to probate the estate and to appoint an administrator for that estate. If there's a trust, you have the right to see a copy of the trust if you are a beneficiary of the trust; otherwise you have no such right.

The question of whether your mom had a will and/or had created one or more trusts is usually answered by doing some investigation, typically by contacting attorneys, accountants, financial planners and others who knew of your mom's intentions and who may have helped carry them out. To the extent that someone is shrouding the process in secrecy, this would raise in my mind suspicions that your mom was manipulated or was the victim of financial abuse.

See my blog postings at www.theneedhamblog.typepad.com/estatedisputes for more details