![]() If the daughter loses the Will, either just by misplacing it, or even if there’s some sort of flood or fire in her home that destroys it, there is no such presumption that mom revoked it, and the Court will readily probate a photocopy of the document. The client gives her adult daughter the original Will and tells her that she will need to bring this to the probate court upon her death. For example, a client names her adult daughter as the Executor of her Will. The most likely person to hold the document is the Executor selected in the Will. Giving it to somebody else is a fantastic option, because once the original Will is out of the client’s custody, there is no such presumption of revocation if the original Will cannot be found, and it’s significantly easier to probate a photocopy of the document. He or she will need to lay their hands upon it to offer it for probate.Ģ. Therefore, if the client keeps the original Will, it’s important to know where it is, and even more important for the Executor to know where the original Will is. This may mean that the client’s preferred beneficiaries will receive nothing. However, it’s often very difficult to satisfy the Court that something did not happen, and the Court will refuse to admit the Will to probate if you cannot locate the original. Sometimes that is an acceptable answer to the Court. Maybe a client has lost their Will or it’s been kept in the basement and a flood destroyed it. Essentially, if the Executor cannot find the Will, the Court asks the Executor to “prove a negative”-that something did not happen-which is very difficult to do. If a client retains their original Will but nobody is able to locate it upon the client’s death, there is a rebuttable presumption under New York State law that the client revoked the Will by destroying the original. There is a downside to doing this, however. If you keep it among your important papers, when the client dies, their Executor will likely know where to find the original Will. What’s the benefit of doing this? You always know where it is. The client holds onto their own original Will. ![]() While the choices are endless, there are four common choices that a client has:ġ. This is why it is important that the client retains either custody or knowledge of what happens to their original Will once they sign it. When someone dies in New York State, the court will be interested in seeing their original Will, as it is difficult to probate a photocopy. After executing a Will, clients face the question of what to do with their original Wills.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |