Madison, AL asked in Estate Planning for Alabama

Q: what can I do to finish probate for a Will that was started in 2014?

My mother passed away and in her will she left my sister and I everything. She left $1,000 to my brother (he has a drinking/drug problem and she didn't want to contribute to his habit). The attorney that we hired sent the letters out to inform my brother that we were probating the will and he refused to sign to acknowledge that he was informed. We are still sitting here four years later with a will that hasn't been probated. We can't force our brother to acknowledge, so what can we do to get this will probated?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Jack T. Carney
Jack T. Carney
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Birmingham, AL
  • Licensed in Alabama

A: His waiver is not required to probate the Will. In this situation your attorney can file the Will for probate, get a hearing set, send notice to your brother and then attend the hearing. At the hearing the judge would review the Will and if all looks good would probably admit the Will to probate. Beneficiaries who receive a smaller than expected share rarely sign the waiver, so this situation is fairly common. One other point, there is a 5 year time limit on probating a Will so you may want to keep that in mind. Good luck!

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