Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts
my mother in law passed away in January. We know she had at least one legal will. The lawyer who wrote it up will not put it into probate because he was threatened by a family member not to. This family member has access to all her accounts and will not produce any other will. He has threatened everyone in the family not to pursue it. Can we go about this anonomously to at least ensure that the will gets to probate.
3 Answers from Attorneys
There's no anonymous way of going about this. Someone with standing -- an immediate relative -- will need to go to court and file an action demanding that the will be turned over to the Court. Alternately, someone with standing can file a petition to administer the estate as an intestate estate, and then be in the position of demanding the document.
Either way, you should hire an attorney to help you. This problem requires knowledge of probate court procedure.
A person in possession of a will is required to file that will with the Probate Court in the county in which the person was living as of his/her death, and this must be done within 30 days of death. It may require little more than a little or phone call from a lawyer to prompt this to be done. It is certainly not a defense to failing to file the will for the lawyer to say he's been threatened.
You need to have a legatee or heir at law file a Petition for Administration. The Attorney is obligated to provide the original to the court if he has it. If all he has is a copy that is something else.
So any child of the deceased can file a Petition for Administration or any creditor of her estate can do so as well.
You should contact an attorney immeidiately to assist you.