Fill and Sign the Lost Wills Form

© 2016 - U.S. Legal Forms, Inc USLegal Pamphlet on Lost Wills INTRODUCTION A will which is lost or misplaced poses many difficulties for those expected to inherit from it. Suggested places to look include a safe deposit box, under the mattress, between pages of books, in glove boxes or trunks of vehicles, or wall or floor safes. A court order may be required to look in a safe deposit box if you're not on the signature card. If you're unable to identify the attorney who drew up the will, you may look through checkbooks to find checks written to attorneys or law firms. As a last resort, one might try cold calling lawyers in the area yellow pages. Be thorough, although an attorney may not remember the client, he or she may have referred them to a paralegal or someone else in the probate department. Friends of the deceased who may have witnessed the will may be consulted to see if the deceased ever mentioned where the will was kept or who drew it up. The deceased's address book will be a source of names to call. Some states allow a will to be filed at the courthouse, so you may try calling the courthouse (ask for the Probate Division) to see if the will was filed at the courthouse. H OW TO PROBATE A LOST W ILL Court cases typically set forth the elements necessary to probate a copy of a lost will as follows: (1) the proof of the existence of the will; (2) evidence of its loss or destruction; and (3) proof of its contents. (4) that the testator did The last element arose from the theory that when a will cannot be found following the death of a testator and it can be shown that the testator was the last person in possession of the will, there arises a rebuttable presumption of revocation. According to Jarman, A Treatise on Wills, Sixth Edition, Chapter VII, page 152, if a will is traced into the testator's possession, and is not found at his death, the presumption is that he destroyed it for the purpose of revoking it; but the presumption may be rebutted, and it will be more or less strong according to the character of the custody which the testator had over the will. It is difficult to lay down any general rule as to the nature of the evidence which is required to rebut the presumption of destruction: It depends to a considerable extent on the testator's property and his relations towards his family. Where the will makes a careful and detailed disposition of the testator's property, and nothing happens to make it probable that he wishes to revoke it, the presumption raised by the disappearance of the will may be rebutted by slight evidence, especially if it is shown that the access to the box, or other place of deposit where the will was kept, could be obtained by persons whose interest it is to defeat the will. In fact, it may almost be said that in such a case the presumption is the other way, namely that the testator did not intend to die intestate. WAYS TO PROVE C ONTENTS ; G ENERALLY — PROOF BY COPY The best evidence of the contents of a lost or destroyed will is a copy or draft of the will that is clearly and satisfactorily identified, if it can be obtained, and ordinarily this is sufficient. Under statutes requiring proof of the contents of a lost will by at least two witnesses, a properly authenticated copy of the lost will has been deemed the equivalent of one witness. Thus, it has been held that a probate judge erred in denying a petition for the establishment of a lost or destroyed will where a copy of the will was submitted to the court and at least one disinterested witness testified that it was a correct copy.