Probate within probate?
Question Details: My father died on Aug. 26th, 2009, without a will. He had a girlfriend who left everything to him, and him as executor, in a will. She died 3 days before him. They were not in touch for the last few years. Need help to clear the situation, and understand what I have to do
I am in agreement with the previous attorney's response to your question. However, you also need to see what her will states. There may be overriding provisions that state how long a beneficiary needs to survive the testator. If that does not change things, you will need to probate your father's estate and then see if there are any other beneficiaries to her estate. If not, then your father's estate may inherit. If you need further assistance, please contact my office at: http://www.socrateslegal.com .
If they both lived in Ohio, and probably even if not, this falls under what is known as the "Uniform Simultaneous Death Act." That's a law that says, essentially, that if two people, A and B, die within 120 hours of each other, the law treats it as if A died first, for B's will and estae, and vice-versa.
So, there is no probate within probate, here. The girlfriend's estate will have to be administered by someone else, not necessarily the representative of your father's estate; if the woman's will had an alternate beneficiary for the possiblity of your father's having died first, that beneficiary inherits, or else the woman's heirs under intestate succession would inherit. The only exception would be if the woman has no other heirs at all, in which case your father's estate would inherit, so that the woman's property didn't go to the government.
