The phishy's grandpa is dying and his lawyer has the will. She has been putting off coming to the hospital to get it signed till Monday. Well, yesterday he came home and put on hospice. Stupid thing is she kept telling us if something comes up she will be up to the hospital. Etc etc. Well, now he is actively dying and its hard to keep him awake. The will is filled out and the lawyer has it and everything BUT he hasn't signed it yet. If she has the will and we can't get him to stay awake long enough to sign it, will we lose everything? If there is a lawyer can someone pm me? I know you can't give out free legal advise bit a helpful legal buzzword or too could help. Thanks!

click here Here is a law forum that you may be able to get some advice on. They have a legal library available and everything. Hope that helps.
I'm sorry to read about your Pappy.
Good luck.

Thanks, love. I'll try that.

And thanks for the sympathies! *huggles*

Oh, Phishy!!! I'm so very sorry!


I'm not a lawyer type, but I would imagine that, depending on the laws in your state, if your grandpa dies without the will being signed, the estate would be placed into probate. What that does is allows all of his potential creditors to file claims against the estate, then any survivors would have to split anything left over.

With a signed will, probate takes much less time and there are no issues over who gets what after any creditors are paid. The fact that a will has been drawn up could be taken into consideration as proof of his intentions, but it doesn't carry the legal weight of a signed, notarized document.

Hope this helps take some of the worry off you... you're in enough of an emotional situation as it is!! My thoughts are with you and your family... HUGS!

~~Wiccan~~

Thanks, love. I'll try that.

And thanks for the sympathies! *huggles*

Well, he passed at 10ish. Before the lawyer could come down to get it signed. Not sure what is going to happen. Its been a long day.

Again, so VERY sorry.

If the attorney tries to bill the estate for creating the will, I would get a copy of the document, and then pro-rate (reduce) the amount she charges due to the unconscionable delay in getting it signed. I hate it when so-called "professionals" pull this crap. You could also file a complaint against her with the state Bar Association... she could face disciplinary action for this.

MOAR HUGGLES & STUFF!

~~me~~

Firstly, thanks to all the well wishes and simpathy from my lovely Dokugians.

My Grandpa had passed Thursday. His bill was still not signed. We had called the lawyer (2 hours before his passing), letting him know how we didn't think my grandfather was going to make it till Monday (the day he was supposed to come to the house with the will). But we got "I will be in court all day, can't come today." Apparently he couldn't send anyone else either. They (the lawyer etc) have been putting off coming to the hospital for signing for nearly 2 weeks. Then this happens. Urgh.

So without the will signed, the lawyer is going to have to fall back on the old will (filled out when my mom and uncles were kids and my pap was still in the military. More than 40 years ago I think). Saying that his two sisters get everything (one of which has passed), because the kids are underage.

My Uncle is getting his attorney involved now. They are going to try to see if they can get the new will followed, which has all his wishes on it (Mom gets the house and the money gets split amongst my 2 uncles, the rest of his stuff is divided how they see fit amongst the grandkids, greatgrandkids, etc.) BUT all 3 of them must agree on who gets what.

I hope something happens soon. It will problably go to probate either way. My mother has been living with my grandfather, helping him out for the past 10 years-ish. She will lose her home if this doesn't work out. If all else fails, I hope my GreatAunt (the one indicated in the old signed will) will follow with Grandpa's wishes from the new will.

This is all too much on top of the funeral and viewing. When it rains, it pours; I guess.

I'm sorry to hear about that Phish. Condolences for your Grandfather and Family and I hope everything works out okay in the end. And sympathy hugs for having to deal with unruly lawyers.

I'm so sorry for your loss...I'm an attorney, but I don't know that I'd have been able to help even if I'd seen this thread in time. Without knowing what state you're in, I can't tell you what laws apply, but it does sound to me like you should at the very least make a complaint to your state's Disciplinary Commission (you can most likely find a link via your state's bar association website, but if not, try Googling "attorney complaint [your state]". I can't necessarily tell you that you have a malpractice complaint - unfortunately, those are very difficult to prove most of the time - but I absolutely believe that the attorney you've been involved with engaged in a lack of action that was totally and ethically unacceptable, and your State's bar needs to be aware of it. We all have court conflicts, but that does not excuse the other two weeks. Agsin, I'm so sorry that you're having to deal with all of this fallout at a time when you should be able to focus on family...if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know and I'll do anything I can.