Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: availability of most current will?

If you know his attorney, that would be the best place to start.

Re: availability of most current will?

While I agree with Bob, your problem may be more difficult. Wills are not recorded anywhere prior to death, since they can be changed over time. People may not go to the same attorney when they make changes, so the attorney who made the old Will may not be the same attorney who made the newer one. You can advertise in a local paper or an attorney paper, asking if anyone has information on a Will of your father. This presumes he used a local attorney who will see the ad and respond. Unless you can produce a new original, the older one is presumed to be the final one. If someone has a "true copy" of a newer one, there are procedures to have it probated (Administration with the Will Annexed), but this might require litigation if the older one has already been probated. There also may be time limits involved in contesting the current probate, so keep this in mind while you do your investigation.