Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Tennessee

Do I have any rights to father's estate

My father passed away a few months ago, he was remarried for about 2 years. His wife became Executor over his estate. There was a will, but it does not seem that she is going by the will. She has made an inventory list, but did not put any items on there that he had bought while they were married. It seems that even though they aquired debt together, she is only trying to sell the items that was his before they were married. I was his only child. It seems like she is stating that she basically is not intitled or responsible for any of his debt that it is just ok to sell the items that was his before they were married since it seems to me they don't mean anything to her. There was other belongs in his name that she claims she does not have to sell to pay any of his debts and she gets to keep them even though they were only in his name. She has stated that she has taken his name off of the titles of the items he bought while they were married and put them in her name. Can she do that? Do I have any rights, am I a beneficiary at all to my father's estate. Some of the items she is selling as been in my family a very long time and means everything to me. Please help if possible, I don't know where to go from here.


Asked on 2/26/06, 2:00 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
LAURA TEK LAW OFFICE OF LAURA TEK

Re: Do I have any rights to father's estate

If there is a Will, was it ever probated?? If a Will exists, it needs to be brought to the Chancery or Probate Clerk of the county he lived in and entered into probate. Failure to probate a Will if one exists is a crime in TN. You need to see the Will to find out if you are a named beneficiary in the Will. You may not be and if you aren't, there isn't anything you can do. In TN people can disinherit a child in a Will, but they cannot disinherit a spouse. He may have named his wife as his sole beneficiary. If she DID enter the Will into probate, that you have a right to get to the Clerk's Office and read it.

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Answered on 2/27/06, 1:10 pm


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