[WSBAPT] Lost Will

Tue Feb 1 12:34:07 PST 2022

Eric, Sarah and Kerry,

Thanks so much for your clear guidance. I was pretty certain that would be
the answer, but held out hope my reading of the statute, the WSBA Probate
desk book and general instincts were not as I feared.

I am certain this will be litigious just because there is a sizeable estate
involved. So, might as well bring it on early. We suspect but cannot prove
yet that the SS took the Will out of the now empty Will envelope from the
safe before the restraining order was in place.

Eric, I have successfully litigated the abuse of elder statute in the past,
and appreciate your thoughtfulness of bringing that up. May be doing that
again.

Best Regards,

Tom

Thomas J. Westbrook

Attorney at Law

324 West Bay Drive NW, Suite 201

Olympia, WA 98502

(360) 866-4000 phone

(360) 866--3832 fax

www.buddbaylaw.com

COVID POLICY:

*Our firm continues to follow guidance from the CDC and Governor Inslee’s
office regarding social distancing and the wearing of face coverings, and
we encourage the public and our clients to do the same.  Our staff is still
working remotely much of the time so electronic communication by phone and
email continues to be encouraged.  We appreciate your patience and
understanding.*

*From:* wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>
*On Behalf Of *Kerry Richards
*Sent:* Tuesday, February 01, 2022 11:39 AM
*To:* WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
*Subject:* Re: [WSBAPT] Lost Will

Dear Tom:

In addition to Eric and Sarah’s salient comments, I would add that
execution of a Prenuptial Agreement is not necessarily the answer to the
issues raised. Challenges to such agreements happen all the time in
multiple venues. Whether it be in a dissolution proceeding or a probate, an
opportunity is always presented to challenge the provisions of the
agreement. A surviving spouse may not, but they have the opportunity. Not
giving them notice of the proceedings will unnecessarily insert you and
your PR into the fray. You, as the lawyer handling the probate may not know
the negotiations, if there were any, in the lead up to execution of the
agreement. The Friedlander  issues are going to be raised, like it or not.

*Yours truly,*

*Kerry A. Richards, Attorney*

*The Law Offices of Michael W. Bugni & Associates, PLLC*

11300 Roosevelt Way NE, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98125

*EMAIL: *krichards at lawgate.net

*TEL:* 206-365-5500

*WEB:* www.lawgate.net

*From:* wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>
*On Behalf Of *Tom Westbrook
*Sent:* Tuesday, February 01, 2022 10:27 AM
*To:* WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
*Subject:* Re: [WSBAPT] Lost Will

Thanks, Eric for your always sound advice. Would it matter if the SS is
subject to a VAPO order restraining him from contacting the decent and her
family members as well as the business owned by decedent?

Regards, Tom

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
------------------------------

*From:* wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>
on behalf of Eric Nelsen <eric at sayrelawoffices.com>
*Sent:* Tuesday, February 1, 2022 9:56:14 AM
*To:* WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
*Subject:* Re: [WSBAPT] Lost Will

I vote yes. RCW 11.20.070 only says notice to “all persons interested” but
I think as a due process matter it’s much better for the client to give
notice to the spouse; spouse needs the opportunity to exercise whatever
rights they may have that aren’t waived by the prenup. This gets the issues
out into the open where they can be dealt with.

Also, I have learned the hard way in a couple of probates that it doesn’t
matter that a dissolution action has been filed—the action terminates
immediately on death of a party and if the Decree of Dissolution wasn’t
entered before death, then they’re still married and the survivor is still
surviving spouse. Unless the prenup waives all statutory rights as
surviving spouse, they can still petition to administer community property,
are entitled to notice of any other surviving spouse, etc.

Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen

Sayre Law Offices, PLLC

1417 31st Ave South

Seattle WA 98144-3909

206-625-0092

eric at sayrelawoffices.com

*Covid-19 Update - *All attorneys are working remotely during regular
business hours and are available via email and by phone. Videoconferencing
also is available. Signing of estate planning documents can be completed
and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Please direct mail and
deliveries to the Seattle office.

*From:* wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>
*On Behalf Of *Tom Westbrook
*Sent:* Tuesday, February 1, 2022 9:33 AM
*To:* WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
*Subject:* [WSBAPT] Lost Will

Is it necessary to give notice to surviving spouse about taking proof for a
lost Will when the surviving spouse is not named in the Will and there is a
PreNup that clearly states the SS does not take under the Will that was
executed prior to the marriage? Also, the decedent had started a
dissolution of marriage prior to death.

Sincerely,

Tom

Thomas J. Westbrook

Attorney at Law

<<...>>

324 West Bay Drive NW, Suite 201

Olympia, WA 98502

(360) 866-4000 phone

(360) 866--3832 fax

www.buddbaylaw.com

COVID POLICY:

*Our firm continues to follow guidance from the CDC and Governor Inslee’s
office regarding social distancing and the wearing of face coverings, and
we encourage the public and our clients to do the same.  Our staff is still
working remotely much of the time so electronic communication by phone and
email continues to be encouraged.  We appreciate your patience and
understanding.*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20220201/3b07d629/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 45232 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20220201/3b07d629/image001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3334 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20220201/3b07d629/image002.jpg>