Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: access to a parent's will

You can't. There is no requirement that a parent show you a copy of their will or for that matter, to even leave you anything.

After the death of a Testator/Testatrix the will must be filed for probate by the executor/executrix. That is when you get to see the will. As a child of the decedent, you must receive notice of the probate proceeding.

Re: access to a parent's will

What you are proposing would not work. First of all a testamentary statement, which in effect is what you are asking, must be validly executed as a will. There must be two independent witnesses (people who would not partake from the estate). In effect what you want to do is to make a subsequent will but even if your mother does this, the resultant docuement can be challenged by your step-father or anyone else who could allege that your mother was not competent to produce a new will, due to her mental state, or that you exerted undue influence on her.

If you're mother has told you how she wants her will distributed maybe you should aske her if she's made the proper arrangements or would like to. Then it would be up to her whether she wants to execute a new will or not.

Should you like to discuss this or any other legal matter, you can call my office to schedule an appointment for a consultation or in the alternative, I can be reached for on-phone low-cost legal consultation at 1-800-275-5336 x0233699.

Re: access to a parent's will

A will to be valid must be executed in a mandated manner. Your proposed letter would not be a valid will. If your mother wishes to execute a new will, your mother's attorney should be willing to visit her in the hospital.

Daniel Clement

Re: access to a parent's will

My sympathies in this dificult time. I lost my father recently and my mother asked me to search his effects to determine what the 'situation was'. I found a short stack of neatly bound papers on his desk covering everything. I was very proud of him. He felt it was more imnportant to spare my mother the task than his difficulty facing the dificult job of planning for after his death. He was a kind and good man and I will always remember how he faced such matters with dignity and respect to others.

Helping your mother in this time may be very hard. You are facing some difficult issues here yourself and my best recommendation is that you talk this over in detail with someone who is not personally involved. You must decide what is important to you as well as your mother.

Writing a new will while she is in the hospital might or might not work for you. It might just result in a court deciding which of the 2 is valid. It could go either way, but you might win. If you choose this option (it cannot "hurt" you, make sure you keep it simple and get 2 witnesses to sign who are not involved. There should be a doctor's statement as well indicating whether she is lucid at the time and a list of medications she is currently taking and their impact on her mental state."

This cannot be anything but very hard for you. good luck.

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