Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Uncle suing family after father passes and has the wrong will.
Here is what I know. My father passed away on Aug. 17th, 2008. My uncle was supposed to be the executor of my father's will he had a copy of dated April,1980. My mother, my sister and I were listed on the will as beneficiaries. My uncle and I work at the same place and he harassed me about my father's will and asked me if the family would pay the expenses of him looking into my father's background to see if the family had any money that he was entitle to as an executor. I told him to talk to my mother and that if we were liable, we would work it out. My uncle was not appointed by any court as executor. My uncle did all of this finacial digging work on his own and now expected payment for this probate work he did under the wrong will. I told my mother what my uncle was doing to me at work and she said she would find the will my father left behind and talk to her lawyer about what was going on. My mother found the original will my father left behind dated August, 1981. My uncle was not listed on this will as executor. My Uncle swore he had the original will from 1980 and tried to give me a bill at work and also had his lawyer send our family a bill to pay $300.00. I talked to my mother about this again and she said that she will have her lawyer send a copy of the August, 1981 will to my uncle and his lawyer. I do not know if this happened or not. I just received a court summons on Jan. 15th, 2010 by certified letter that my uncle is now suing the three of us for $3,696.00 for his lawyer fees and for his 4% of the estate he is entitled to from the will he was the executor on from 1980. This is not the correct will and he should not be involved with any wills, is this correct? I thought NY state was a community state and once a spouse passed, the surviving spouse automatically got everything and no will was involved in any way.
What do I do? I do not know what to think about this and would really appreciate some advice.
I believe my uncle and his lawyer did probate on their own using the wrong will.
My mother, sister or myself have never received anything from my uncle or his lawyer about the will he is using until my uncle wanted his lawyer fees paid and then this all happened.
The will my mother has is solid as a rock. The will was taken care of by a lawyer the way it is supposed to be done. The executor of the current 1981 will has a close friend of my fathers listed. All of the i's were dotted and the t's crossed on the 1981 will.
Yes, the will was witnessed.
My mother's attorney considered the 1981 will very valid and told us we had nothing to worry about.
The expenses he is suing us for included the following: the failure to pay estate expenses and the 4% of what he feels is the value of my parents property and what he feels he deserves as executor of the wrong will.
Thank you ahead of time to anyone that responds,
G

Asked on 1/16/10, 4:26 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Michael Markowitz Michael A. Markowitz, PC

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I know this may sound as a cop-out answer. However, in this particular situation you must talk to an attorney. I would suggest talking to your mother's attorney. This is important since if the wrong will was probated, you may have to go to Surrogate's Court with the correct will. Once the correct will is probated, your Uncle would not be entitled to executor fees.

Mike.

Answered on 1/21/10, 5:07 am

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