Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arizona

Is there a time limit on complying with a will stipulation?

A very dear friend died in Oct 2000 leaving me her house

and property, which represents about 10% of the estate.

The remainder of the estate is to be placed in trust for

needy children to go to a Catholic School and secondarily for repairs to the school and overseen by the residing priest. There is a stipulation in the will that I stop smoking and that the personal representative will make the determination. The priest now wants the house along with everything else and at first stated that he had reason to believe that I am still smoking. I have submitted proof that I am not smoking and have not essentially since around March 2001. His attorney is now saying that it doesn't matter that I have now quit smoking and they have no evidence otherwise, but I did not quit smoking early enough to satisfy the will even tho no time frames are stated in the will nor by the personal rep. I would like to know the case law on this to present to the probate court if possible. Thanks in advance for any assistance.


Asked on 7/28/01, 8:52 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Is there a time limit on complying with a will stipulation?

I can only recommend that you hire an attorney to represent you in the matter. It sounds like there is potentially a significant amount of money involved. Regarding request for case law, unfortunately that would take a significant amount of time to research and cannot be presented in this format, however my feeling is that you should be able to prevail, depending on the wording of the will and how the court might interpert those terms.

Read more
Answered on 7/31/01, 1:37 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Probate, Trusts, Wills & Estates questions and answers in Arizona