Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York
item in will not received
my son and i are beneficiaries in a friends will. i am the trustee to my sons benefits. with my copy of the will i received the form ''combined verification,oath and designation''. i did not receive a waiver and consent form. should i have.
there is an item in the will i have not received. i believe my copy of the will is different than the original re this item. i believe that is so it will fit the description of an item i was given, rather than the item in the will.
when i was taking the items left me from my friends apartment at his familys request, i accidentally left jewelry there. when i returned the family had already been there. one piece of jewelry was missing.
what recourse do i have regarding these.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: item in will not received
Since you would not receive any thing if the will was found invalid, you are not required to sign a waiver and consent. You should get a notice of probate along with a copy of the will. If it is admitted to probate this is the only will. A copy which differs from this document is a nullity.
As for the jewelry, well, it is he says against what the other guys says. You must prove ownership and find the guy who has it.
Re: item in will not received
Unless you can verify that the missing piece was actually there and taken by someone not entitled to it, you will have a hard time recovering it. Was it insured? Maybe you can get a copy of a policy (homeowners or jewelry floater) to verify it was there. As to the correct copy of the Will, you can get a photocopy of what was probated from the Surrogate's office. May have to pay for it though.