A properly signed and witnessed will is all you need. Maryland does not require witnesses to appear to verify the will. The only time witnesses might be needed is if someone challenged the will, but the burden is on the challenger to prove the will maker was mentally incompetent or subjected to... View More

You’ll need to take the will and trust language to a lawyer to review. If your mother was granted a life estate in the house, then she can live there and have a live-in boyfriend. If something less than a life estate, it will depend on the language, but generally if there’s no prohibition then... View More

You take it to the Register of Wills Office in the circuit court of the county where the person resided at the time of death. Generally, an estate is opened and any assets will be distributed in accordance with the will, by the personal representative/executor appointed under the will. The PR... View More

You should retain counsel to file a probate petition. Filing the Will is merely a first step. And, yes, I’m the meantime, she might be committing all sorts of frauds.

It is determined by statute, by intestate succession. Natural born children of the deceased inherit first, in equal shares, or if none, parents, then siblings of the deceased, etc. The complete order is set forth by the statute. Someone in the family must open an estate and petition to be appointed... View More

Unfortunately, it is impossible to provide an answer without more details and facts. Consult with a lawyer who can review the will, the dates of death of the maker of the will and the beneficiary, and the beneficiary’s will, if any.

Generally an estate must be opened for the person who died. The Personal Representative is the person appointed by the court with power to deal with any estate issues, including collecting any payment due to the person who died. The Personal Representative must also disburse in proper order... View More

If no will, then wife gets first $15,000 and then splits remaining assets 50% to surviving spouse and 50% to surviving children. Don’t know what you mean by “leftover benefits”, but if referring to pension or retirement assets you need to reviewany beneficiary designations on file with the... View More

If everything was planned perfectly, so that you don’t need to file a probate, there might be no need for counsel. Even if there are small omissions, the surviving spouse might do just fine handling the estate pro se. If they need to evaluate the work to be done, a simple one -hour consult with... View More

It is unclear why a Will would read "cancelled upon death." If all of the assets were owned by a Trust, then the Trust terms will dictate how long it takes to disburse the assets. Some trusts are written to disburse over a long period of time while others disburse immediately after the... View More

I assume C is the natural child of GF and not adopted by GM; that GF predeceased GM; that the title is not an older formulation like et ux, so a title abstract supports that title was wholly in GM; that GM died intestate; and that A post-deceased GM also intestate. C is not a child of GM so is not... View More

A probate estate is a matter of public record, so the first place to start would be taking a look at the estate filings.

Keep in mind that some property might pass to family outside of the estate and the law does not require that people give away property equally in their Will or for... View More

Any monies payable to a deceased person typically run through their estate. Whenever money is disbursed from an estate, it should go to the lawful heirs of the person who died, meaning the people identified in the will of the person who died (or if there is no will, to the heirs under intestate... View More

You can petition the court to get access to your belongings as well as to remove your brother as Personal Representative if you can prove he has failed to carry out his duties.

There are two choices. First, provided the co-owner has a divisible interest, such a tenancy in common, they can sell what they own. That is often valueless, since nobody will want to buy the right to share the home with the other owner.

Second, if the property is indivisible, such as a... View More

To transfer any title, an estate must be opened. However, if the only asset is an automobile worth less than $50,000 it is likely that it would qualify as a "small estate" which offers an easier, streamlined procedure with less paperwork.

Two witnesses.

The Orphan's Court is likely to require you to obtain a proper appraisal so that your brother is properly compensated. But, do you really want to take title in the names of four of five brothers? Do you all live there? Wouldn't it be better to sell it and divide the proceeds so you can... View More

If your father was mentally competent when he drafted and signed his will, then his will is valid and will be upheld. if he was not competent, or you can prove this female companion exercised "undue influence" and coerced in some way the terms of the will that were favorable to her,... View More

A lot of facts missing, as well as conflicting facts in your question. First, you say, "My aunt passed almost 20 yrs ago she own the home," and then you say "my aunt didn't own the property sets on"--so, which is it? Are you saying the original seller never recorded the... View More