Q: What happens if a Will goes into probate 9 years after the testator died, and if a beneficiary is died with no child.
What happens If a Will goes into probate 9 years after the testator died (because the other co-executors never petitioned to go into probate) but in the meantime one of the beneficiaries passed away. To be more precise, the Will had named four beneficiaries, all who were siblings. But after the death of the testator, and before the will went into probate, one of the beneficiaries Died. And the beneficiary that died had no spouse, no children, and only had his brothers and sister still living. Also, the beneficiary that died did not have an estate set-up. Can the Executor go ahead and distribute evenly the dead beneficiaries gifts evenly to the currently living siblings, all of which were also beneficiaries in the WIll? The Will only stated that if one of the beneficiaries dies, than their share is to be evenly distributed to their Children. But they had no children, spouse, or estate. But they died after the testator died, but before the Will went into Probate
A: You should contact a lawyer to discuss this and have the will reviewed, however, generally speaking if the will does not provide for a disposition upon a beneficiaries death, then the laws of intestate succession apply and the share goes to the persons closest blood relatives. In this case, that appears to be the surviving siblings. To give you a definitive answer, an attorney needs to look at the will and be sure about who the closest relatives are.
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