Arlington, VA asked in Probate and Estate Planning for Florida

Q: MY aunt died in Florida. I have heard I am in the will, but I have not heard from her attorney. She died 25 days ago.

While my aunt was alive, she asked me if I would take her pets when she died. She told me she was leaving me money as well as leaving money for the care of the pets. She told my husband, cousin and her boyfriend this. When my two cousins went to the reading of the will, one of whom is supposed to be the executor, told me she left me $10,000. The will stated that I was to get her pets, but no money was allotted for the pets. I was told there were several handwritten notes, but I do not know what was in them. I was unable to make the trip to Florida, I had major back surgery and live in North Carolina. The lawyer has yet to contact me about anything. I don't even know the lawyer's name. My cousin who went down to Florida brought the pets to me since my aunt's boyfriend wanted them out of the house as soon as possible. Frustrated and don't know what to do or what should be done.

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2 Lawyer Answers

A: In the world of probate 25 days is a very short period of time and no time at all really. Depending on the type of probate that is required, you could possibly be waiting months. Words and promises do not matter at all as it relates to a Will, only what was actually written into and put into the Will is going to ultimately matter. You could be waiting 4-6 months or you could be waiting 9-12 months or longer, but you will start to get correspondence well before that related to the Will/estate/probate.

A: There is not such thing required by law, for a "reading of the will". Possibly the attorney thought it would be clever to stage such an event, but it was not necessary. The necessity of having a lawyer read a will to the relatives (because, perhaps they didn't know how to read), is long past, if that situation ever existed. If you want to know what the will states, get the attorney's contact information from your cousins, and then ask the lawyer for a copy of the will.

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