Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

If you are named as the beneficary it should reflect it in the employer's records. If a will was probated it is a public record you can review in the county courthouse where the will was probated.

You ask two questions. Wills, if submitted for probate, are matters of public record. Anyone can go to the Orphan's Court (Iif the woman died while a resident of Pennsylvania) and ask to see the estate file. You don't indicate when the woman died but wait at least 60 days after her death to see if there is an estate file.

However, you don't need to see the will unless you believe that you are a beneficiary under the will. A 401(k) is a non-probate beneficiary designated asset. That means that dispositions in the will don't control who gets it. Nor do you need paperwork. Why would you? Unless the woman kept a copy of the beneficiary form, then you would not have this or have access to it.

As noted by Attorney Weinstein, what is controlling is the beneficiary designation form on file with the administrator of the 401(k) plan or the Human Resources Department of the woman's employer. Start by calling the employer and if need be they can refer you to the plan administrator so that you can submit the claim for the benefits.