Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York
Inheritance form estate of deceased
My wife and I are parties to a codicil from the will of an elderly husband and wife who had no children. It was signed,dated and notarized in the State of New York by both parties back in 1992.
The couple moved to Florida in 1992. The husband died a few years back which I knew because of continued contact with the wife. The codicil states that both had to be deceased before we would be paid the said amount of $15,000. I just got confirmation, including a death certificate from the State of Florida, that the wife's date of death was back on January 13,2003. We had been trying to make contact with the wife at her residence for some time with no success and it was because of that that I contacted the Office of Vital Statistics and confirmed our feelings. We assumed we would be notified by the executor upon her demise but that was not the case,which leaves me suspect.
What is the first step in pursuing the estate for the inheritance?
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Inheritance form estate of deceased
You will have to see if the will and codicil were offered for probate.
If they were offered, you should attempt to notify the executor.
Daniel Clement
Re: Inheritance form estate of deceased
Contact the probate office in the county of her death to see if the Will and Codicil were submitted for probate, and who qualified as executor. It is possible that one of many things may have happened; no Will was probated, a new Will was drawn after her husband's death, nothing happened becuase the exector did not know there was a Will, or the executor may have died also, etc. If nothing has been done, who has the original document, if you know? That person may not know about the death and may need to be informed.
Re: Inheritance form estate of deceased
Assuming the wife never revoked the codicil you would first have to determine whether an estate was set up in the county of her domicile. Was the will probated?
Re: Inheritance form estate of deceased
In New York a codicil needs to be executed with the same formality as a will. This requires at least two (2) witnesses whon are disinterested.
A notarized document which fails to meet these requrements may be enforceable as a binding contract, but not as a codicil.
The above statement is a comment to a legal question. No attorney-client relationship has been created. This is not legal advice and should not be relied upon until an attorney-client relationship is created. The above statement is a comment to a legal question. No attorney-client relationship has been created. This is not legal advice and should not be relied upon until an attorney-client relationship is created.
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