Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Oregon
Securing copy of deceased fathers will
On 10/29/97 my father passed away.My stepmother is the executor of my fathers estate. This is not a joint will.It is however a joint tenancy will.Approx.a month later I received a copy of the will. But it was missing 1 page & 40 lines. She said that part was her financial affairs and did not want anybody to see them. My question is their a oregon statute that would force her to show the entire will to me? Both my brother and myself are named in the will.do we not have the legal and moral right to see the entire will with out all the edits and pages missing, could there be more she does not want us to see? i have contacted her attorney he has written back and said he could not show us the will without her consent.
4 Answers from Attorneys
obtaining a copy of deceased father's will
I am not an Oregon attorney but I would suggest that if thewill is to be "probated" in court by your step mother that thereis likely to be a copy (or the original) filed with the court.
Good luck.
Isn't a will a public record in OR?
In my state (NC) I would advise you to just go down to the Clerk of Court's office and ask to see the file. A probated will is a public record in NC.
Bad lawyers lie.
In most states and probably yours, the holder ofthe will is absolutely required to bring it to court within a certain length of time. Keep a lowenough profile that they don't destroy it before performing their legally required duty.
The lawyer probably intended to deceive you. He or she is not YOUR attorney. Wait a little bit and then get it from the court or, if they haven't turned it over by the timeyour statute requires (ask the court clerk how long that is ...it's often 30 days tops), then have a lawyer MAKE them do it.
Unless you don't want to piss Mom off. You might be better off doing this research of yours on the sly.
Public Probate of will
If your stepmother has been appointed executor then the court thatappointed her has the will and it is now a public record. Go to the courtand request to see the will. If she has not been appointed by the courtthen you can probably file a petition in court to have someone appointedor to have her file the will in court.
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