Olean, NY Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

You can't. You and your husband can do a unified estate plan, including a "contact not to change the will." This won't stop your spouse from getting re-married, in which case the new spouse will have an "elective share" claim in spouse's estate, so at least some of your joint assets go to new spouse. Also, your spouse could change the will, leaving your child with a breach of contract action against his parent, which many people won't exercise. You should see an estate planning lawyer to get this put together as well as it can be put together.

Hello. My name is Damien. I am an attorney in New York City practicing in the New York City metropolitan area. It sounds like either you do not have access to your father's residence prior to his death to search his files and records, or you do have access and cannot find the original will or copy of the will. If there is a will, he should have kept either the original in his possession (in his files) or a copy of it. If there is a copy of it and an attorney drafted the will, then you would check to see if the attorney has the original will. Another possibility is that your father filed his will with the Surrogate's Court. It is not necessary to do so. However, a person could file their will prior to death with the surrogate's court clerk. So, you could check with the Surrogate's Court to see if there is a will on file. If you need any assistance, a New York Trusts & Estates Attorney could help you. If you wish to speak on the phone about it, you can call Damien Bosco, P.C. at (646) 452-7082 or email me at DamienBoscoEsq@gmail.com

You can execute a Codicil which is a modification/amendment to the original Will. This will accomplish your goal without having to redo your entire Will. However, a Codicil has to be executed with the same formalities as a Last Will and Testament. You should use a lawyer.