[WSBAPT] Will for James R. Batell

[Jeanne Dawes]

Greetings:

I am on the search for the Last Will & Testament for James R. Batell, a life-long resident of Spokane, WA.  Mr. Batell left no spouse, issue, or father who survived him.  After a search of his records, and interview of girlfriend and friends, there is no indication he left a Will.  We are attempting to locate life or death records for his mother, but are running up against brick walls.  Mom abandoned child as a young child.  The three names we have for mom are all coming up empty (we hired two professional investigations companies to search).  There are living heirs on paternal side.  Only one relative (a cousin and my PR) who recalls hearing stories about decedent's mom, decedent never spoke about her.  One seeming solid lead about her birthplace being in MT in 1922, has resulted in no birth records being found in MT for the names we have between 1920 and 1924.   Last known record of her we have is an Affidavit of Service in 1965 when she was served divorce papers at her place of work in downtown Spokane (a market that is long-since gone).  Mother married decedent's father in 1960 when child was 5, but the couple never lived as husband and wife.  The story is they married only so Dad could get custody of son.  Dad filed for and obtained a divorce in 1965 just prior to marrying decedent's step-mom (who subsequently divorced dad and married a man from Canada - I've not been able to discover if she is still living).     We have decedent's birth certificate, the marriage certificate for decedent's mom and dad, and the parent's divorce pleadings.  Client believes mom was not using her real name or DOB on any of these documents.

I've spoken with a couple of you about this matter, and the suggestions have been to Petition the Court for Instructions about how to proceed or Petition for an adjudication of intestacy and heirship.  I am leaning towards Petitioning  for Instructions, with the hope that the court will tell me what they want in order to adjudicate heirship, if they even will do that in this case.  I'm trying to avoid having the proceeds  from the sale of decedent's home sit in the registry of the court for the next 3-4 years.  If anyone has any advice that would be helpful, I sure would appreciate it.

Jeanne J. Dawes
Attorney at Law
Gore & Grewe, P.S.
103 E. Indiana Avenue, Suite A
Spokane, WA 99207-2317
Voice:  509-326-7500
Fax:      509-326-7503
jjdawes at goregrewe.com<mailto:jjdawes at goregrewe.com>

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