I suspect my father is withholding my inheritance from my recently deceased grandfather – how can I make sure?

Perhaps one of the most pitiful aspects of modern society has been the erosion of the family. Divorce, politics, religion, money – all of these have divided families and created estrangement between spouses, parents, and siblings. When wills and inheritances are added to the equation, rancor between disaffected parties can be fueled by suspicions, imagined conspiracies, ignorance, and greed. 

A Grandfather Dies, A Son Suspects

When an elderly relative passes away, it’s a sad state of affairs when a grandson hasn’t attended the funeral, but whose only preoccupation is how much he is supposed to get in his late grandfather’s will. This exact scenario cropped up in a Reddit post. 

The poster admits having moved away years ago and has essentially ceased all communications with his father and his paternal side family for years. He heard about his grandfather’s passing but made no effort to reach out to other relatives or to attend the funeral. However, the poster assumes that his grandfather bequeathed something for him and, because he has yet to be contacted by an attorney about it, suspects that his father has stolen it instead. His post requests guidance on how to find out what the details of the will were outside of communicating with his father. 

Lack of Communication and Jumping to Conclusions

The poster’s greed, ignorance of protocols, and communication avoidance are all crystal clear from his inquiry, and there’s a good chance that he will wind up with nothing directly from his late grandfather. However, since he neglects to include other details to fill in the blanks, the following scenarios, or some combination thereof, may be in effect:

• If his grandmother or his late grandfather’s subsequent spouse survived him, she would be the primary beneficiary and may have discretion over the estate.
• Grandchildren are often left out of a will by name, especially when the deceased has several children. Since the number of grandchildren can thus vary between each of the deceased’s sons and/or daughters, many wills only bequeath to one generation, and each heir is responsible for dividing their share among each of their respective children upon their own demise. 
• As the grandson has been incommunicado with the family for a number of years, he has no idea as to the status of his late grandfather’s estate. There may be a bunch of creditors who have outstanding claims. There may be municipal or federal liens against the estate if there are unpaid taxes. The grandfather may have outstanding utility, phone, or other bills due. There may be financial adjudications against the estate from a lawsuit. 
• Unless the poster is the sole grandchild, if the grandfather did specifically name grandchildren in his will, the poster’s own lack of communication with family may have written him out of the will, with his share being assigned to his cousins. 

Using the Internet

To answer the poster’s question, the internet may be his solution for discovering details about his late grandfather’s will while maintaining radio silence with his family. 

If the estate contains any assets of substance to require a probate proceeding, it will be filed by the family at some point not long after the funeral. As probate is a public process, the court may display copies of the filed documents. However, the poster has the opportunity to make an appointment with the probate court to review the file, and the will, which will probably be included. 

While the easiest route to take from a mechanical perspective is to simply make amends and re-establish family relationships, the roots of the estrangement may render a reconciliation a dead end. 

This article is opinion only, and should not be construed as advice. Legal and estate professionals should be consulted if pertinent counsel is being sought.