Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia

Re: probate a will

The will must be probated in Virginia. If there

is more than one executor, at least one of you should be able to secure bond for the probate.

Re: probate a will

Probating a will is not really an option. It is

one of the duties of an executor. Part of

probating the will is placing a public notice

to invite any creditors of your mother to come

forward and speak now or forever hold their

peace about any unpaid bills. That is one of

many reasons why it is not up to you to

probate or not probate. You have a legal

obligation to pay off any of your mother's

VALID debts before doing anything else. So it is

not something that you can decide whether you

want to do it or don't want to do it.

You said that your mother's estate is in Virginia.

I ASSUME that that means that your mother died as

a citizen of Virginia. It is not the same

question as whether she owns property in Virginia.

The will must be probated in the county where

she was a citizen at her death (meaning her

primary residence, her domicile).

Somebody must be executor. Therefore, the court

should cooperate in helping you find some way

to qualify.

However, you must have an agent or attorney

or executor in Virginia. It does create a lot

of problems if there is no one in Virginia.

Frankly, this is another reason why a trust is

often a better idea than a will.