Best Estate Planning Attorneys in West Palm Beach, FL

You usually need the original Will for probate. Let’s say your loved one dies, and you can only find your copy of their Last Will and Testament. Can you have this copy admitted to probate? When the original Will is missing, it is usually assumed that the testator destroyed the Will. A judge may find that the copy is not admissible. However, the law also provides a way for probating lost or destroyed Wills. Florida Statutes Section 733.207 states that an estate may be probated if: the Will’s contents can be proven by two disinterested witnesses if no copy of the Will is available, or a correct copy is available that can be proven by the testimony of one disinterested witness. A disinterested witness, by the way, is someone who has no personal interest in the estate. For example, an heir who expects to receive something from the estate cannot be a disinterested witness. The best practice for dealing with your Will is to put it in a safe place and make sure your personal representative or family members know where it is kept.