my father began working for a rancher at age 12...during the over 60 yr working relationship things changed to a partnership, which was always referenced to any an everyone...we were family!! unfortunately mr. "smith" passed away of an abrupt heart attack. he was survived by his wife mrs."smith" and the partnership continued as usual. mr. mrs smith had no surviving relatives at all...as mrs smith became senile and much older....a niece by marriage appeared and took mrs.smith ,after much push, to our one horse town attorney and had her change the will, to override the assets left to my father by mr. smith, with 2 14yr old local cheerleaders (worked the summer in law office) to sign as the only witnesses. the new will left all millions, land, cattle, etc. to the newly appeared niece. none of this came to light until mrs. smith passed away. my father was crippled by the devastation of loosing his best friend, mentor(adopted dad), partner and continuing his dedication to the business as mr smith asked him to promise in such a case and care for mrs smith wellbeing because she new absolutely nothing about the operation/business.
upon mrs smith death, my father continued to work as usual but was denied to view neither of mr. or mrs smiths wills.....he was repeatedly dragged along and assured nothing had changed about the business but due to legal and tax issues the will was stuck in probate. as time passed, hints became obvious that something had been changed from the agreement between my father and the smiths:( the niece by marriage began to attempt to take over the business and went as far to offer my father $10,000 plus a home and 2 acres of land if he agreed to never allow his to sons to visit or dwell in the home*#%%???????????? my father was sincerely hurt but wit limited financial resources and the small town justice he was lost on what to do after a 60 yr commitment to be insulted and attempted to taken advantage of by a surprise appearing non-blood relative. he quit the business and requested that i research the wills of both mr and mrs smith.
i began pounding the pavement to request will copies. mr smith`s will went from probate to invisible , a couple of years after my repeated request to view. mrs smiths will stayed in probated for almost 4 yrs and i was told we could not review this document as well.... eventually i was released a copy of mrs smiths will to find out that the distant niece had taken her to one of our infamous small town attorneys, to write a new will before she was soon placed in a nursing home and passing way . the new will was witnessed by 2 of my 14 yr old classmates and left everything to the distant niece.
to this day, the land sectioned for my father has gone untouched and is overgrown with not one fence line rerouted. the home he built and raised his family in (a silence gift offer) has been burned and bulldozed but no survey fence line tampered in the 10 yrs since he quit . what to do for my fathers old age peace?

Hi Mck,

I read your post several times just to make sure I understood everything you were saying.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I can give you much encouragement because so much time has passed since the death of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. While each state has laws to protect the interests of an individual's heirs, those heirs must present their claims within certain time limits. Otherwise, there would never be any certainty as to who was lawfully entitled to a decedent's property.

In your dad's case, it appears that Mr. Smith died first and Mrs. Smith died second. It is not clear how much time elapsed between their deaths, but it seems that Mrs. Smith passed away at least 10 years ago. In that case, whatever transpired in the settlement of their respective estates through the probate court where they resided is now final - with one exception - fraud. There are several different types of fraud, such as fraudulent concealment of assets, fraudulent misrepresentation, etc., and whether this exception applies to your dad is something that is well beyond the scope of this forum. If you believe that any fraudulent activity was involved in the settlement of either estate, then you should seek the services of a local attorney who is experienced in these matters.

You did say, however, that Mr. Smith's will left certain assets to your dad and that " . . . a niece by marriage appeared and took mrs. smith, after much push, to our one horse town attorney and had her change the will, to override the assets left to my father by mr. smith . . . ." I have a problem with that statement because, once Mr. Smith died, his will controlled the disposition of his assets. If his will left any assets to your dad, then your dad became entitled to them, by law, upon the probate of Mr. Smith's will. Mrs. Smith could not alter that fact by changing her will prior to her death.

So, either your facts are not correct or you (and your dad) have been given incorrect information. It appears, therefore, that you need to obtain a copy of Mr. Smith's will. I know that you've said you've tried without success, but if there was a will and if it was in fact probated, then it is a public document and anyone (including you and your dad) can obtain a copy from the probate court. You don't have to be a blood relative to get a copy. I just called the probate court in Tampa and asked for a copy of George Steinbrenner's will. I had to pay $24 for copying charges, but they had it ready when someone picked it up for me. If the probate court won't give you a copy, then have a local attorney request it for you.

If there was a will and the will was probated, then what the will says will control the dispostion of Mr. Smith's property. If nothing was left to your dad, then it seems that nothing more can be done. However, if some property was given to your dad, then that would be cause to find out why your dad didn't get it. If that's the case, then you really do need to consult with a local attorney who is experienced in these matters.

Hope this helps. If I've overlooked something here or if there is more to this, please post again. Also, I think we'd all like to know if you get a copy of Mr. Smith's will and what it actually does say.