Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Ohio

The will became invalid? I don't think so.

There is such a thing as "revocation by operation of law" which makeswills invalid in certain circumstances, e.g., when there's a divorce oreven a marriage, but those laws do not apply because a spouse has died.

Maybe some lawyer is lying to you. It's been known to happen. (Actually,I may be breaking an atty's code of ethics by saying so, so please don'tquote me and do destroy this message, please!!!)

Also, note that I could be mistaken anyway since I don't know OH law very well, ... but I doubt it.

Now, even if the will is still valid, you might not be able to get anything from the estate for various other reasons. Do you have a copy of the will? Can you get one? Please call me for further details.

Step-mother's will leaves all to pre-deceased husband

Your friend should check immediately with another probate lawyer or two (and she will need to take the will with her). The wording of the 1971 will makes a big difference in the outcome--your friend may or may not receive the property, but it depends on the will's wording.

Stepmother's will

Check the will to see what it provides in case the father pre-deceased the step-mother. If it doesn't say anything about that situation, your friend may be out of luck except to negotiate with the step-mother's next-of-kin to purchase the heirlooms (hopefully in this case they are not worth a whole lot of money). Your friend had better consult an attorney in that state.

Lack of contingent beneficiaries

If the will did not have any contingent beneficiaries, then the will cannotcontrol the estate. The property will be controlled by the law ofintestate succession. Since your friend is not an issue or blood relative,she cannot inherit under intestacy. It is possible that the husband's willhad a clause that required his wife to survive by a certain length of timeto inherit.