I think I might be in someone’s will. She passed & so did her dad. A relative took over as POA & never admitted to me being in it or not & refused to give me a full copy of the will. This happened about 6 months ago. Has too much time passed?
If you are in the will You’ll be notified after the person has died. Until dead, it’s not your business and the POA should not be disclosing anything to you. And you are not entitled to a copy of the will if the person is still living.
A POA serves a person BEFORE that person dies, and their duties END with the passing. Then, if the decedent left a will the Executor of the will takes over. Wills must be filed in probate court making this a public document. Who is the executor of the estate for the person that passed? The POA may know, and indeed may have been appointed as Executor as well. She need not give a copy of the will of the deceased to anyone, but by law she must notify beneficiaries within a certain time in most states. Check the rules for administer a will in your State. Time passing has nothing to do with anything about the will insofar as beneficiaries. The Executor of the will will have a time limit in which to distribute the assets of the estate. It takes quite a long time to administer an estate. Sometimes there is property to be distributed. Often a person doesn't leave all their assets in a will or trust. They may have an account that says Their Name with YOU as POD (pay on death). No one is mandated to let you know this, not even the bank, so hopefully if you were on an account you know it. If you knew where the elder died, then you should check to see if you were left POD on any accounts. And why not go to the local court in your county to see if the will has been filed. If the deceased left a Trust with a Trustee, the Trustee will administer the trust according to law, but need not file it in probate court.
The person who is privy to the will is called the Executor. The PoA is a separate responsibility and only is in force during the person's life. The minute they pass away the PoA's duties/authority stops and the Executor's begins. If the PoA was not also assigned as the Executor, then they wouldn't know what's in the will unless the assigner specifically showed its contents to that person. Even so, that PoA should not be discussing this sensitive information. The PoA cannot "show" you the will, or change it. And I don't think the Executor can, either. It can take a while to dispense the Last Will & Testament as it goes through probate court first, which may be slower than normal due to the lockdown. If you are never contacted, then you were probably not in the will. Do you know for a fact that the person even had a will?
Who is the executor of the estate for the person that passed?
The POA may know, and indeed may have been appointed as Executor as well. She need not give a copy of the will of the deceased to anyone, but by law she must notify beneficiaries within a certain time in most states. Check the rules for administer a will in your State.
Time passing has nothing to do with anything about the will insofar as beneficiaries. The Executor of the will will have a time limit in which to distribute the assets of the estate. It takes quite a long time to administer an estate. Sometimes there is property to be distributed.
Often a person doesn't leave all their assets in a will or trust. They may have an account that says Their Name with YOU as POD (pay on death). No one is mandated to let you know this, not even the bank, so hopefully if you were on an account you know it. If you knew where the elder died, then you should check to see if you were left POD on any accounts.
And why not go to the local court in your county to see if the will has been filed. If the deceased left a Trust with a Trustee, the Trustee will administer the trust according to law, but need not file it in probate court.