Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

Re: What to do when a Co Administrator to an estate sales the property you are s

This is a mess. I don't care what you signed, it appears to me that the will is not valid, and the Commissioner or Court should have rejected it, no matter what you signed. To be valid, a handwritten will must satisfy some VERY rigid requirements. It must be 100% handwritten BY the DECEDENT -- not someone else. 100% of the will must be in the handwriting of the maker of the will. You cannot waive this requirement after the fact, regardless of what you sign. Normally, a will must be signed in front of 2 witnesses. A handwritten will is an exception to that formality, and therefore it must comply strictly and exactly 100% with the requirements for a "holographic" (handwritten) will.

Therefore, assuming that you can reasonably show that the handwriting is not his handwriting, you should immediately file an amended version to whatever you filed, stating that it has now come to your attention that the will is not valid. However, this is going to turn on whether it is obvious that the will was not written by your father, which is not going to be easy, unless the handwriting is very obviously not his.

Secondly, no one has the right to take things out of the house without being inventoried. I forget off the top of my head whether this is criminal, but it is definitely not legal. Regardless of who is the beneficiary or the executor, all the property must be placed on the inventory, and there must be a clear record of who got what. So people cannot just walk off with things. You should ask the Commissioner of the Accounts for what your options are. Of course, since most people don't know these rules, you should start with advising this woman that she has to inventory everything. It is not a request -- it's the law.