Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

wills-incorporating things that were not in original document after person dies

my mom's will states ''all children are to share equally in

my property wherever situated'' when she passed away.Subsequent to her death my sister pulls out a crumpled

piece of paper with some handwritten (unauthenticated)''bequeaths'' to the various children that my

sister insists should be incorporated to the will. I

disagree because 1.) we don't know when this was made

2.) my mother could have changed her mind about who to give

what 3.) the list was far from comprehensive leaving the

remainder of the estate to bicker about who gets what 4.)

wills were created to eliminate the uncertainty of what

a person really wants and the only way to really share

equally is to divest the assets and split the proceeds

equally (auction the contents) Unfortunately my sister and

the estate attorney are in agreement to include this paper

into the will. I think even if we all agreed to accept

this as part of the will it is legally wrong and the conduct of the estate attorney may be improper by doing this. Could you please provide some guidance

About 1 month before the will was made mom's life insurance

went from an even 25% split to a 100% sole beneficiary to

my sister We suspect hanky-panky. Does the will protect us.

what to do


Asked on 3/30/06, 2:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Davidson Law Office of John A. Davidson

Re: wills-incorporating things that were not in original document after person dies

You have two issues:

The first the supposed external document. A will in Pennsylvania is everything above the signature. If an external document is incorporated by reference it needs to be described in the will itself and must be in existence before the will is signed.

The second, the change to the beneficiary of a life insurance close to death raises the question of undue influence, fraud or duress. The 3 grounds for overturning such a change.

Without more information its hard to give definitive answers. The good news is I am close and the initial consultation is free. So feel free to contact me.

{John}

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Answered on 3/30/06, 2:26 pm


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