Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania- Hello. My grandmother had a will but it was never probated and lost, and the attorney who prepared it is deceased and we are told all of his records have been destroyed. My question is - can you offer any suggestions regarding where we may look for a copy of the will? Could it have been used for some type of transaction such as attached to a deed or financial record?


Asked on 5/29/12, 5:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

You do not indicate where your grandmother lived at the time she died or when she died. While it is possible to sometimes probate a copy, the fact that the attorney has destroyed his records suggests that this was a very long time ago and the attorney cannot be a source for disclosing the testator's intentions unless the will was drafted a long time ago and your grandmother just died.

Copies of wills are not attached to deeds or any other type of financial record to my knowledge. If there is no will, then your grandmother's assets would pass to her children via the intestacy laws.

Estates can be probated without wills. What did your grandmother own? Would you have benefitted by proving her will? You should consult with a probate atorney in the county/state where your grandmother lived at the time of her death to know whether it would be cost effective to try and prove the contents of a lost will or whether it would be simpler to probate this under the intestacy laws.

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Answered on 5/29/12, 8:05 pm


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