Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: How do I find out if a deceased family member had a will?

There is no one place you can look for a will. If one exists, the executor would offer for probate to begin probating the estate. You could try to look where your father stored important papers to see if there is a will. Most people execute the will at the same time as the power of attorney. Also, if there is no will, then your brother can not be executor unless he is appointed by the court since the will is the document which names the executor and his/her powers. If you father truly did not have a will, he is considered to have died intestate and his property will be distributed by law based on his heirs. The only person who could amend the will is the testator (your father). This is usually done by executing a new will. As discussed, absent a will, a court must appoint an executor. The holder of a power of attorney does not have the power to amend the will, the holder only has the powers contained in the power of attorney. Once your father died, the power of attorney document is no longer valid since it generally covers incapcity or incompetency.