One issue arises more than any other in California probate and I imagine in other states as well and that is that the Will cannot be found.

There can be a couple of reasons for that.  The first that comes to mind, is that there never was a will.  While I am not sure how the statistics are arrived out, I frequently read that over half the people never do a will.  This may or may not be true.  What is true, is that a lot of people do not plan for the distribution of their estates.

A second reason that the Will cannot be found, is that the decedent discarded it.  Sometimes this is done intentionally and sometimes unintentionally.  The family might have been under the impression that a Will had been done, but the testator (the person who died) may have revoked it and thrown it out.  Sometimes it is thrown out unintentionally. The testator may have become mentally infirm and a consequence may have been throwing important documents away.

In California, we do not have a central place to record wills or trusts.  Therefore it is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain if a Will was ever done.  When I receive telephone calls from people, I tell them to look everywhere.  Search the house!  Is there a safe deposit box? (Sometimes it is difficult to get in the safe deposit box which makes searching difficult – call a probate attorney).

A third major reason that a Will cannot be found, is that someone has torn it up.  This happens when a child sees the Will and is not happy with the bequest left to him/her and/or is unhappy with the nomination of the executor.

Is there a moral to this entry?  Possibly.  One possible solution is to let people know where you keep the Will and provide a copy to a trustworthy person.  In the event that you revoke the Will, let the person know and if you do a new Will give that person a copy of the new Will!