My 86 year old aunt with Alzheimer's/Dementia prepared a will back in 1998 that cannot be found. What can we do?

Stressedmom-this question was about the one who wrote it. If you have another set of circumstances, then address them in your own question please.

Although we are not looking for compensation at all. We do want to get all my MIL's affairs in order, as she is no longer able to make any competent decisions regarding her legalities. So this was the reason we asked the SIL for all her paperwork. My Mil is 93, and is in stage 7 of her dementia. Thank you all for your helpful answers, Godbless and hugs....

What happened to the attorney's office records? Often a relative of the attorney will still have them and certainly he or she would have had a copy in his or her files. Failing that, the government will decide who gets what. After all bills are paid, they will distribute it to the next of kin.

There does not have to be an attorney involved in a will. I worked in law enforcement, and in fact did do what's called a "Living Will", and gave it to my daughter. I was not married, and upon my death, it would be honored in court. I have since gotten married and my husband has grown kids himself. If we both pass, her "Living Will" will still be good, but there is nothing to stop his kids from coming over and grabbing everything we have because they are his sons. The smartest thing for me to do now is my husband and I to have an attorney draw out another will, which will superceed my daughters "Living Will" and divide all things legally. Ultimately, if you're trying to get some money back that was spent, that in itself will require a court order to enforce your position. You said she had POA, if in fact she had the power over her finances, then you may not find many attorneys who would want to take this case because it's all going to be work pinning down how much money was spent and on what, and the payout to the attorney won't be much if anything, except for what you will have to pay him to hire him. OR, if you are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars, and have proof to take to court. I'm truly sorry, but if it were me, I would take away that unwanted stress now and try and make as many changes in your life for your familys' sake as soon as possible. If you want to try and at least find out if there was something, yes, lots of attorneys turn over their practice to other attorneys, but if it was a sudden death, they could be sitting in his basement. If you know his name, the internet is a great thing, and could lead you to his wife, family etc. But think about your stress level and health. It's a shame we have to deal with these greedy people, but I strongly believe in what goes around, comes around. Good Luck.

Did someone take over his practice when he died? If so, they should have all of those records. also, your Mom might be wrong - your grandmother may have voided one will and then never got around to having another written up. If she did, she should have a copy. Since she has Alzheimer's, I don't think having a new will written up now would be valid.

Stressedmom - if the lawyer that prepared the will your SIL is in possession of is deceased, his practice may have been turned over to another attorney. I suggest you check on that. But if a new will is prepared, it "overwrites" any previous wills - so I would suggest your mother-in-law have another one prepared, signed, dated, witnessed and notarized. It's not going to help with any money spent in the past by your SIL, but it will help with any future situations. Good luck.

We were not informed about any of the legalities when this was written up. The SIL did NOT include her brother in any proceedings on this or anyother matter regarding their mom???! This SIL did everything under the table sortospeak! We were never contacted once for anything that I know of. We had to find out from our lawyer, that the Lawyer who wrote up the Will was deceased? That's pretty petty on the SIL's part if you ask me. She is making our taking care of my MIL Hell for her brother! All because she can't be bothered, by helping us in getting this vital information..... SHE HAS!!! If only I could figure out a way to help my husband do this, without a retaliation of this viper, I would! Thanks for your answers Godbless....

A will cannot be "voided" so to speak by itself. The only time a will is null and void is when another will is written which "overwrites" the previous will. And it's best if this will is not just signed by the person, but witnessed and/or notarized by other individuals. Sometimes an attorney will pass on his practice to another attorney before he goes out of business though. You may need to do some researching and find out if this was the case. If so, he/she should have a copy of the will or be able to tell you if it was registered in the court. If not, unless a copy of this "newer" will is found, there's not much you can do.

Most states do no require a will to be registered, just like a POA in most states do not need to be registered. Seems to be southern states that do this.

Most professionals - like doctors and attorney's- when they retire are required to place a public notice in the paper about this. You have 30/60 days to contact them to either get your documents or let them know to whom to transfer to otherwise they default to a closed file or to another firm. You may want to go a google search on the old deceased attorney to see to what happened. My mom has outlived attorney's either by their death or they retired - we got 2 letters regarding this each time with a letter that needed a signature of acknowledgement of transferring of files. Current one I've never met or ever spoken to but has her file.

I want to know,.... If there is a Will thats made by the parent. Through the urging of one of the 2 children, and with only that sibling and her spouse present, and knowing about it. Is there a way, that won't cost more $$$, to find out who, where and what it's contents are? We did go to our Lawyer and asked some Q's. when the SIL so willingly threw the POA at her brother, but only found out that the Lawyer who wrote this passed away some years back!? We have had no luck in getting any info from this sister on anything to do with financial, medical or legal matters since she up and checked out on any responsibility of helping care for her mom (my MIL). Prior to all this the SIL took it upon herself to become POA, and as such went to town on depleating mom's assets, to zero balance! Her brother (my husband) now has POA and we are taking care of everything for my MIL. We have to since she no longer has the funds to do so. Hence this is the reason we would like to find out some important facts. This SIL is astranged from us because we called her on what she has done, not only to us, but her own mother too!! Can we search on our own to find this Will? We are currently supporting 3 households with one income., so we are strapped as far as hireing an attorney. It just can't be done now, so this is why I would like to see if there is any way we can find this out on our own!? Thank you all for your answers

Wills by law do not have to be registered in a Court. Did you check with the attorney's estate to see if wills kept by him have been saved. It might be on a disk. How does your mother know for sure your aunt wrote a revised will? Did she ever see it? Maybe your aunt meant to write a new one and never got around to it. In any event, with her having dementia and it sounds like her time is near, unless you can produce another will the former one will stand.

I think the will is registered in the county court house.

In some states people register the will at the court house. (we did it in PA and NC) by any chance did you check there? Is there some sort of law board in a state that keeps track of old records for lawyers that die?