Property Settlement - Allowed to View Contents of Will?

[WHMurphy]

Hi everyone,

My ex's mother died in N.Z. over 10 years ago. She maintains that she never received anything in the will. That may very well be the case, but in light of deceptions in recent years, she could have received an inheritance and deposited in a N.Z. bank account. She has already attempted to conceal other assets from her lawyer.

I contacted a Registrar of the High Court in N.Z. who can find no evidence that probate was ever applied for in respect to her estate. She had a number of properties at the time of her death. At the time, I recall hearing that the will had been read by a local solicitor to family members and the estate divided accordingly.

My questions are:

1) Can I demand to see a copy of the will during our financial and property settlement process?

2) If so, is it up to her lawyer to make sure that the will is available for viewing?


As ever, thank you for your help.

 

[SamanthaJay]

I was asked to provide all documents relating to my father's grant of probate including the Will and any inheritance received via discovery.

My father died 2 years ago though so not sure about how you would go going back over 10 years ago and in another country. I can't seem to get a clear answer about what is acceptable or reasonable about how far back I can be asked to go in regards to discoverable documents.

Currently my ex has requested for me to go back 7 years. On the other hand he is refusing to even hand over tax returns beyond 2 years.

 

[WHMurphy]

I know what that's like. I provided all the documents asked for by my ex's previous lawyer (she sacked him) in a timely fashion, but as yet, have not received any documents from either the old lawyer or the new one. The new one said he would provide them within 24 hrs; that was 3 days ago.