Secrets in the Will? Uncertainty and Potential Conflicts May Impact Equitable Distribution

When a family member’s will is shrouded in secrecy, the path to equitable distribution becomes fraught with uncertainty and potential conflict. Daniel Rubin discusses shares his insights with The Moneyist on MarketWatch:

‘She told my ex-wife that our visits were upsetting the family cats’: My sister stopped me from seeing our late father, and refuses to give me a copy of his will

If there is a will, your late father’s attorney should have a copy. If the will says your sisters inherit your father’s entire estate — unlikely, given that they refuse to show you a copy — they should have no problem filing the will with the probate court. If not, your father’s estate will be divided among his three children.

With your mother already having predeceased your father, “the law of intestacy provides that each of the children (and the descendants of any predeceased children) would be entitled to a share of the father’s estate,” says Daniel S. Rubin, a partner at Farrell Fritz in New York City.

This is relevant because you will be entitled to receive a citation in connection with the probate of your father’s will, he says. “If the will is voluntarily presented for probate, or absent a voluntary probate of the father’s will, the son can himself petition the Surrogate’s Court to compel production of the will,” Rubin adds.

Read the full article on MarketWatch here:

‘She told my ex-wife that our visits were upsetting the family cats’: My sister stopped me from seeing our late father, and refuses to give me a copy of his will – MarketWatch