Phoenicia, NY Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

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

Probably. When there is a will contest, it becomes the job of the court to try to decide what the decedent's testamentary intent was. A typed will must be signed and properly witnessed, and ideally have self-proving language attached and notarized or the witnesses will need to be called back to testify to the signing. A will written completely in the decedent's own hand need not be witnessed, but testimony must be given to prove the handwriting is the decedent's. A will that does not meet the requirements of the statute of wills is no better than an unsigned will. An unsigned will is almost completely useless unless there is overwhelming proof that it reflects the content of a will that was properly executed and not intentionally destroyed or revoked that simply cannot be found.