What is a waiver regarding an estate?
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What is a waiver regarding an estate?
I received a waiver in the mail after the death of a family member. The executor of the will is somewhat of a shady character and I wanted to know what signing this waiver would mean.
Asked on June 9, 2014 under Estate Planning, New York
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
Is it a Waiver of Process and Consent to Probate a Will? You received this because someone is trying to off a Will for Probate to the Surrogate's Court and you have an interest in the Estate [not the Will] of the deceased. You are most likely a Distributee (i.e. a person who could inherit from the Estate if there were no Will). In other words, if the Will is probated and proven to be a valid Will, it may block your potential inheritance under the default intestacy laws. However, it is also possible that you are inheriting something under the Will. The form is used to speed up the process when everybody agrees that the Will is valid and should be probated and you should have gotten a copy of the Will with it. If you refuse to sign, the person bringing the probate proceeding will be required to get a court date and serve you with notice of the court date. This date is a deadline by which you must formally object to the Will. If you fail to object by the Court date, you lose your right to object to the Will. If this person is shady as you state then you may want to speak with a private attorney on your behalf. And show up for the Court date. Good luck.
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