Dad's Will and Stepmom, part 3

On Jul 31, 7:55 am, ss33ss...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Jul 23, 7:10 am, Mike Jacobs <mjacobs...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > (1) As mentioned in my original reply, if Stepmom's Will is in a form
> > that her state recognizes as a binding joint Will with Dad, or if she
> > had signed some kind of legally enforceable binding contract with him
> > to that effect, she would not be allowed to change her Will to the
> > detriment of the beneficiaries
*  *  *
> I spoke to a relative who said that the "will"  as it is titled was
> actually a contract (according to Dad) and that MIL, as was
> suggested, had a similar "will".
*  *  *
> Now is it a will or a  contract?  What it says is unknown to us.

I thought you were quoting from the document.   You don't have a copy?  How do you even know about the sell-the-house-and-split-the-money provision?  Or was that from Dad's document, and what you're saying is, you don't know what his wife's document says?  OK, that makes sense.   As a starting point, though, it also makes sense to assume the language of hers is identical, if that's what they said they were doing.

> How do I get
> information about this document?  Sounds like the lawyer is the most
> logical place to start.  Yes?

Several of us already suggested that, if you know it was drafted by a lawyer and know who that lawyer is because his name appears on the document (I assume you _do_ have a copy of Dad's).

> What is the best way to contact the lawyer?  A call or a letter?
> Please advise.

To make a long story short, yes you should contact the lawyer who drafted the document, whatever it is, and find out all you can about it. 

I would suggest a telephone call.   It's faster than a letter in terms of your time, and you can accomplish a lot more in just a minute or so as well as shape your line of questioning based on how he reacts to your initial inquiry.  In case he's not there to pick up your initial call, leave a message with your name and number and tell him you are calling in relation to the "Will of 'Dad' (insert his actual name here)" and you are ("Dad"'s) son but don't go into any details or he may decide not to call you back and you'll never know why.

And if that does not satisfy your inquiry, you should call around and find a local trusts and estates lawyer who will meet with you briefly -- probably charging a fee for that time, since it does not yet appear there is any way he can get paid by a contingent percentage fee -- and get additional answers to your questions.  Bring all your paperwork with you when you do this.

You still haven't quoted the entire document to us, so we have no idea what it says and therefore what it is, regardless of what people are calling it, since its actual language is what matters and would make the difference between a will, or a contract, or just a "precatory" (as in "pretty please, if you feel like it, this is what I want") request that no one is legally bound to honor in any way.  Good luck, and if you want any further input here it would probably not be very useful until you do the above.

--
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Mike Jacobs
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