If a niece is in her father's will and he died this past Feb in Pa is there a certain period of time that the will has to be read and can his wife screw the niece and say she was not in the will?

Answer 1

You have to be sure there is a Will, and then you have to be sure it's the very last Will your niece's father wrote. Her father could have changed his Will and automatically everything can go to his wife. If you know the lawyer who is handling her father's Estate then I suggest you make an appointment and see what can be done. Until you know exactly what is in that Will you don't have much of a leg to stand on. The lawyer only needs to tell you if your niece is in the Will and if he's in a good mood just how much she will get.

If the Will is as stands (all or part of the Estate going to his daughter) and I highly doubt she would get the whole thing, then this is what usually happens:

There is usually an Executor (male) or Executrix (female) appointed in the Will. The job of either of these people is to be sure that the death notice is to be put in the papers and then they are responsible for paying off small bills, such as funeral costs, telephone, cable, etc. They can also pay off loans, etc., but they must itemize where they spent that money! The Will should go into "Probate" (with the itemized list, all accounts of the deceased to the Probate Dept.) and forms need to be filled out for these on ALL assets and contents of the deceased. This can be done by a lawyer or by the Executor/Executrix. Probate makes sure all debts such as outstanding property/personal taxes are paid off, as well as any loans, credit cards, etc., are paid out in full. Once this is done (could take a year or a little more depending on how busy the court system is) then the Estate will be distributed to the Heirs in the Will.

All too often people promise jewelry, property, cars, homes, etc., to those in the family and either through loss of memory due to old age or they have had an "out" with a family member they can give away anything they please to anyone or leave what they want to anyone! They can even be talked into changing their Will. This is why I am telling you to try and get a copy of that Will or at least see your niece's father and have the lawyer tell you whether she is in the Will or not.

If you think your niece is not getting what is due, you can "Contest the Will" and usually any greedy or unfair member of the family will not enjoy this little round of court care. They want their money and by Contesting the Will you can hold it up in court as much as 3 years or more. Usually a settlement is granted between the sole beneficiary of the Will and, in this case, your niece.