Madison, WI asked in Estate Planning for Indiana

Q: Questions re: Indiana Will ?Conflict of Interest

How do I go about determining whether, in my father's (Indiana) revocable living trust/will, there are conflicts of interest as to the drafting attorney's representation of both my father and his unmarried co-habitant lady friend, her daughter being a personal representative of "some part of the will," the daughter (and other siblings) being a potential beneficiary(-ies) in my father's trust/will, let alone in their mother’s will, and the lawyer being a personal representative in the same will, all while my father has not provided me a copy of his will, nor will the lawyer, and; nor has there ever been a meeting between my father, the lawyer and myself?

Thank-you, in advance

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1 Lawyer Answer
Alexander Florian Steciuch
Alexander Florian Steciuch
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Valparaiso, IN
  • Licensed in Indiana

A: Your father does not have to provide you a copy of the will or trust. The lawyer will definitely not give you a copy of the will or trust either. Why would the lawyer have to meet with you and your father? The lawyer works for your father, not you.

As for conflicts of interest, there may be one, but there might not be. This doesn't sound helpful but while some of the facts you have presented here could be suspicious they are not per se conflicts of interests. The drafting attorney can represent both your father and your father's significant other as long as they are not opposed and since they live together and have no plans to leave each other in the future it makes sense for her to be a part of planning your father's estate if that was his wish.

Your father is also free to appoint whomever he wants to act as a personal representative or trustee. Your father is also free to leave his assets to whomever he wants. There is no statute that says he needs to leave any of his assets to his children.

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