Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

Call the county where he resided on death and ask if a will has been probated. In Dallas and some counties you can go to the County website and see. Then you must have someone go to the court to get a copy. But simpler...is for her to ask her brother...hopefully there is much family trust ....Merry Christmas

1. If there was a Will, your wife can retrieve a copy from the County Clerk in the county where it was filed for probate. If there is no Will that has been filed, she can use the Court to compel that the Will be produced. Or, there may simply be no Will.

2. If your brother-in-law was appointed by the Court as the executor of the Estate, he is obligated to do many things -- including properly administering the Estate and distributing property pursuant to the Will's terms.

3. Yes, if by "playing games" you mean ignoring the Will's instructions or adding his own conditions, he can certainly get into trouble.

4. You'd be well-served to visit with a probate attorney to learn how this whole thing works. A nuts and bolts explanation of probate law and estate administration would never fit in this response.

5. Getting a copy of the Will from the Clerk by fax is unlikely. Mail is probably an option, after the Clerk has received the payment for the copies requested. The better way to handle it is, unfortunately, in person.

Before you spin your wheels on this too much, I'd get a bit more information from the brother-in-law. At first glance, the transaction sounds a little odd, but it's also third-hand information coming from him to your wife, from your wife to you, and from you to us.