Ellsworth, ME asked in Probate for Maine

Q: Maine Probate law. I was told by an attorney that the PR can add people to the will.

The will had already been registered and excepted prior to the amendment. The lawyer said that with probate law they can do what ever they want.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Daniel J. Eccher
Daniel J. Eccher
Answered
  • Probate Lawyer
  • Winthrop, ME
  • Licensed in Maine

A: If you are a beneficiary of this estate, you should hire a lawyer to fight such an after-the-fact “amendment” to the will. The concept of amending a will after it has been admitted to probate is so outrageous that I laughed at the above statement. If a lawyer really said this, all I can think is that it was “puffery” – a fancy term for bologna, hogwash, etc.

The only way I can imagine an estate being distributed differently from how the will was originally written is if there were a formal proceeding in which the judge ordered that the will be set aside.

Anthony M. Avery agrees with this answer

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