Did you know that the probate court will administer the probate of a lost will in West Palm Beach? There are specific rules and procedures for getting the lost will admitted to probate. If you cannot find the will you are going to have to have the witnesses or someone who can attest to the contents. Here is a run down on proving a lost will.
Probate 101
- One of the first things you are going to do if you want to administer an estate is to locate the will.
- The original will is then deposited with the probate clerk of courts.
- Then and only then can you petition the Court to appoint the personal representative.
- So what happens when you have a lost will?
Lost Wills
- Just because a will is lost does not mean it lost its legal effect.
- The will is still the last testament of the testator and its words are legally binding.
- The problem is figuring out what those words are.
- As you may know a will in Florida is required to have two witnesses.
- If you do not have a self-proving affidavit normally those witnesses will have to come testify in Court that they witnessed you sign or that you attested to the signature.
- It is not a problem that those witnesses are also beneficiaries under the will.
- These are known as interested witnesses in West Palm Beach because they have an interest in your will, namely their portion of the inheritance.
- When it comes to a lost will you need witnesses that actually know the contents.
- Two common people are the witnesses to the signing and the attorney who drafted the will.
- Also copies of previous drafts are extremely useful in proving the contents of a lost will.
- The problem is the witnesses for a destroyed will have to be disinterested and also know of the specifics in the will.
- That can be hard to find but it is necessary if you want to get a lost will admitted into probate.
- One of the first things to do in this type of situation is call the probate attorney who drafted the will.
- Hopefully they had the will the whole time and were acting as a depository and you just did not know it!
- If not, I would recommend hiring your own probate attorney in West Palm Beach to help you prove the contents of the will and to get that inheritance.
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