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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Indianola, Iowa
    Posts
    1

    Default Lawyer Lost Original Will

    My question involves estate proceedings in the state of: Iowa. "Uncle passed in March. Lawyer that did the Will in 1996 cannot find it. We have the copy. He said there was a form. We need to get to the bank accounts. Uncle still at funeral home since March 09!! No form done, he turned us over to another lawyer. We need access to the bank accounts. Both of us are on SSI. Can't continue paying taxes on the house. No other living relatives. Mother is listed as next. The other, grandmother, passed away several years ago. No one else to deal with. Now this new lawyer is talking death taxes this and that. All we Want now is to access the bank accounts. We do know that there is 8 thousand in the savings, over 25 thousand in checking. WE need to get to the accounts to pay the funeral home, and all we have taken out of pocket to keep the house, utilities and such on, and we paid the taxes out of pocket. Both of us have no money left. Why are they not getting us that form? The atty that retired that did the will in the 1st place said he would testify to the fact he lost it. Then turns us over to another atty that is saying all different? We just want the form to access the accounts for now.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Lawyer Lost Original Will

    The stuff about a "form" doesn't make sense. Perhaps the lawyer was looking for a motion to probate a copy of a will he could use as a basis for drafting a motion in your current case, although it seems your current lawyer could do that. When a will is lost there is a presumption that the decedent destroyed it intentionally, and that must be overcome in order to probate from a copy. Talk to your lawyer about what, exactly, your first lawyer meant by a "form" and whether it will be possible to proceed through probate based upon the copy of the will.

    The estate has assets (the bank accounts) and expenses (property taxes, etc.) that it should be paying. It may well be that the estate also owes taxes. Who is the personal representative, and why aren't they attending to the estate's bills and to funeral expenses?

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