Q: Do multiple wills follow a progression of how they passed away or include into the last one?
My Wife lost her grandmother, mother, and father in a matter of days of each other. Her Brother is an attorney,executor, and a beneficiary but won't share any details of the wills and is trying to convince her that none of the wills matter even if she is named specifically in one and that only the last one matters. He also tries to get her to sign final arrangements and give her permission to asset consolidation without telling her any details.
Is this normal or would he be more likely trying to get her to agree to decisions as a beneficiary from an executor position without her even knowing it. He also has not filed the wills with probate yet to further " keep her in the dark" because they will then be public and he will no longer be able to keep her from knowing what is them. They all had wills for each one separately. What would you advise
A:
I would recommend she consult with an attorney regarding her rights in any/all of the estates. If you see an attorney, I recommend you create a time line and gather copies of any documents that you do have in your possession. It would be difficult to provide advice without more information. However, as a heir and a beneficiary she has right to information and possibly assets.
There is some truth to the statement that the last Will governs. For example, if a grandparent, child and grandchild die within a month, then grandparent's estate passes to child's estate, child's estate passes to grandchild's estate and then and only then would grandchild's estate plan govern and direct the disposition of estate assets. In other words, grandchild's heirs would have to wait for both grandparent's and child's estates to settle before they would receive any assets. Again, these matters are incredibly fact specific. Hope this helps and sorry for all of your loss.
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