What is considered to be a legally binding part ofa Will?
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What is considered to be a legally binding part ofa Will?
My recently passed mother has a line in her Will that states, “Any money owed by my children will become part of my assets”. When the Will was released to the siblings, no other document was attached regarding this statement. Several months later, it came to light that she kept a diary/log book that recorded all loans to the children. Haven’t seen the book yet. Is this book now legally binding to offset any estate distribution? Is so, how? The estate has not been divided yet pending sale of house.
Asked on September 22, 2011 under Estate Planning, Wisconsin
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Good question. If your mother's Will states monies owed to her by her children are to be included as part of her estate's assets and all there supposedly is to support such claim of loans by the deceased mother is a diary/log book claiming such, that diary/log book is poor evidence of any owed debt to her.
It is essentially a self serving hearsay statement. It is not a promissory note signed by a person who received a supposed loan from your deceased mother. If there were written promissory notes, then that would be another issue and the representative for the estate could deem such notes an asset of the estate.
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