How to Find Out If Someone Left a Will or Probate
- 1). Contact the executor to find out if he or she has started the probate process and if you are named as a beneficiary under the will.
- 2). Contact the attorney who drew up the will, because this attorney will often help the executor to probate the estate.
- 3). Check your local newspaper, because state law often requires the executor to publish notice that the estate is being probated.
- 4). Go to the local office in your area that is responsible for dealing with estates. The office in Pennsylvania, for example, that handles estates is called the Register of Wills.
- 5). Check your own mail, because local law often requires the executor to send notice to beneficiaries that the estate is being probated.
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