if my father recently passed, how can I find out if he had a Will and if I am mentioned in it?
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if my father recently passed, how can I find out if he had a Will and if I am mentioned in it?
Asked on November 19, 2012 under Estate Planning, Tennessee
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
You can ask friends or other family members if they know if a Will was drawn up. If one was, then if you were a beneficiary you would have been notified (or at least will be once it is presented for probate). If his estate has been entered into probate already, the Will would have been filed with the the probate court in the county where he resided at the time of his death. Once filed it becomes a matter of public record and accordingly it can be viewed by anyone.
However, you should be aware that some assets can be transferred outside of probate. So, for example, if your father had a small estate, property may have been transferred by affidavit. Additionally, some of his assets may have been held as "joint tenants with right of survivorship", in which case the other joint tenant would have received your father's share of property by operation of law. In addition, funds in an IRA, pension, 401(k), or other retirement plan bypass probate, which means that they go directly to named beneficiaries. The same holds true for any life insurance proceeds.
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