Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Mexico

new mexico probated will

my stepmother was named pers. rep. over my dads estate. I requested a copy of the will from her but she wouldnt give me one. i got ahold of otero county and recieved the will and saw why. my father had 3 natural children and 2 step.Step mom is mother to 3. her 3 children were written to recieve 1/4 and me and my brother 1/8. should i have been given the opportunity to contest it before it was admitted to probate? he would never have done such a thing and i think there was amore current will but no proof. how do i go about seeing a list of his assests as this was not part of the probate record? she claims she is broke but my dad was a doctor and had just retired and lived in a $300,000 home. she claims their is no estate to form a trust with and is cashing bonds etc that were to go into the trust but no trust exists. the letter i recieved said she is rep. and the probate will go unsupervised by the court. does this mean she doesnt have to abide by the will? should i contest her being rep. or the will itself? this woman left my dad 6 months earlier and had no intentions of returning- set up house in another state. this caused him great heartbreak and led to his strokes and eventual death. thank you for your help


Asked on 9/03/01, 5:00 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Peter Bradie Bradie, Bradie & Bradie

Re: new mexico probated will

You can only contest a will after it has been filed. It isn't easy to get a will declared invalid, unless you have very solid proof; mere speculation won't do it. If the will was filed for probate in Texas, you could require an accounting and a filing of the inventory of the estate. I have no idea what the probate laws are in New Mexico.

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Answered on 10/01/01, 10:19 am


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