[WSBAPT] Due diligence to find heirs in lost Will scenario

[Katharine P. Bauer]

Virtual representation come into play?  How are you showing the Will was
not intentionally destroyed?
On May 18, 2015 3:05 PM, "Eric Nelsen" <Eric at sayrelawoffices.com> wrote:

>  Decedent was born Japanese, married an American serviceman in 1950s and
> moved to the US, became a US citizen. Husband died decades ago. No
> children. According to her 50-year-old immigration papers, she had three
> brothers and a sister in Japan. Our understanding is that she was excluded
> by her family after marrying an American.
>
>
>
> We have an address for sister in Japan but zero information on the
> brothers--we don't even know if they are living. Decedent did have some
> minimal contact with sister's daughter, and we've managed to contact that
> niece to ask about the status of her uncles, but no response.
>
>
>
> Decedent's Will leaves everything to charity, except for a minor gift to
> the sister. So all three brothers and/or their descendants are disinherited
> by the Will.
>
>
>
> Final wrinkle: A lost Will! So I will have to prove a copy and give prior
> notice to all heirs at law. It's a solid Will with self-proving affidavit
> and I have the witnesses available. I have no qualms or concerns about the
> validity of the Will.
>
>
>
> Under these circumstances, I'm inclined to regard the "due diligence" as
> satisfied, mention the possible existence of disinherited brothers in the
> petition, but not search further for them. Effectively, I'll be giving
> notice to the sister, but not the brothers, in order to prove the lost Will.
>
>
>
> What do y'all think? Have I gone far enough, or do I need to do more to
> identify whether brothers are living or if deceased who their descendants
> might be?
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
> Eric C. Nelsen
>
> SAYRE LAW OFFICES, PLLC
>
> 1320 University St
>
> Seattle WA  98101-2837
>
> phone 206-625-0092
>
> fax 206-625-9040
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> WSBAPT mailing list
> WSBAPT at lists.wsbarppt.com
> http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbapt
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20150519/976ea041/attachment.html>