Q: My neighbor passed in 2016; before her passing she had a will which identified me as the executor of the will.
I did not act on the will because the daughter moved in and I didn't want to upset her. However, the daughter recently passed and now there are no living relatives. Is the mom's will still executable?
A: Yes it is but there are many issues besides the passage of time, the decedent's assets, the interests of the decedent's other heirs, the formal process of probate, etc. This question should be posed to an attorney experienced in Massachusetts probate law.
A: I agree that consulting an Estate attorney concerning this matter would be the route to take. A public forum can only provide some basic information. If you are in possession of the original will and were named the Executor now referred to as Personal Representative, you had a duty to move forward with a Petition to Probate the Will . I am assuming this is a Massachusetts resident who is deceased. The on-line public docket would tell you whether the daughter or someone else has filed a Petition for Probate of the Estate already and whether or not a copy of the Will was offered or whether it was believed that the decedent was intestate. You also could have declined the appointment as Personal Rep despite being named in the Will and the will may have listed a successor. If you did not have the original but only a copy, then the content could be offered for probate.
A: You will only know after you offer the original Will for probate.
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