contesting a will in North Carolina

I know absolutely nothing about estate law.
I friend’s mother recently died. The friend is an American citizen and living in Ontario. Her mother died in North Carolina.
The will left her nothing and all to her step father.
She has no way to travel to North Carolina and no money for a lawyer.
She has asked her brother, who lives in North Carolina, to see the will. The brother says there is no way for her to see it.
Is it not possible that there is something fishy going on? Does she have no rights in this case? Her mother died rather quickly. What if she agreed to a change in the will in her last few days. Is it still valid?

Good thing this is not specific legal advice being sought…

Otherwise, people would suggest you ask an expert. For example, does a will have to be publicly available?

http://boards.answers.findlaw.com/index.php/topic/172699-contest-a-will/

Real-life legal questions belong in IMHO. Moved from General Questions.

samclem, moderator

From personal experience:
No matter how in the right you are, expect the step-father to eventually take it to court.
Check NC probate laws to see if as next-of-kin qua an interested party the executor(rix) needs to send you a copy of the will.
If the father-in-law is executor, see what the procedure is to have him removed. In my case the judge made the ex-wife trying to steal the estate the executrix so after she bled the estate dry as much as she could she turned it over to my sister and me.

I’m curious about what would happen if it turned out the OP’s friend really was mentioned in the will after all, but the folks in NC just conveniently ignored that fact and said otherwise. Could they eventually be charged with a criminal count of fraud if found out?

Just read a lot more about North Carolina probate than I care to admit. Probate only needs to be addressed if the person that died had real property in their name only. If the property also includes the spouse, the property automatically transfers to the spouse. Other things that have beneficiary designations such as life insurance policies and retirement plans also do not require probate.

If the estate did require the use of a probate court, a will must be filed at that time. If there was no will, the deceased in considered intestate and the court decides division of any real property.

From what I could gather based on the info supplied by the OP, if the mother passed on with a will but had no real property in her name alone, there would be no requirement for probate to be filed. In this case, all property goes to the surviving spouse. Much the same as community property states even though North Carolina is not one. Her sole rights would then be based on the generosity of the step father. If the estate did need to be probated and was not, the use of an experienced probate attorney would be required.