Who controls the disposition of your parent’s remains?  The spouse, you, or someone else.  Consider this situation: Mom died without a Will; Stepdad, under Arizona law, gets to decide what to do with Mom’s remains.  Stepdad won’t share Mom’s ashes with anyone.  Mom’s heirlooms, given to her by her own mother, which she told her daughter were to go to the daughter, are in Stepdad’s house and he won’t turn them over to his stepchild. What can the grieving daughter do?  Not much, because Mom died without a Will.  If Mom made a Will, her heirlooms and her remains would be disposed of as she wished.

People die unexpectedly.  Make a Will before you die.  Your family will be better off if you make a Will.

Daughter can’t do anything quickly or inexpensively.  Mom’s failure to make a Will has caused a huge problem, one which could have easily been avoided if only Mom made a Will.  Grieving daughter can file a petition to Probate her mother’s estate, but if Stepdad steps in, he likely will be appointed as the Executor.  Without a Will, bond for the Executor is not waived, and whoever files for Probate will be required to go through the expensive and time-consuming process of obtaining a bond.

If Stepdad does not turn over to daughter her share of Mom’s estate, grieving daughter has to complain to the Judge and try to get a Court Order forcing Stepdad to do what he is required by law to do.  This means that grieving daughter has to pursue a formal, contested, lengthy, and often expensive Probate procedure.

A contested Probate proceeding, with an uncooperative Stepdad, is not only expensive and frustrating, it takes a long time to pursue. So, you can try to file the Probate and pursue it by yourself, but only fools undertake such an endeavor. Is it worth the expense of getting a lawyer?  That depends on the value of Mom’s estate and the value of Mom’s ashes to daughter.

Do yourself a favor: Get your Mom to have a lawyer make Mom’s Will. While you are at it, get a lawyer to make your own Will. Since you cannot predict Mom’s date of death or your date of death, do it as soon as you can.

Reading the Will

The Reading of the Will