questions & answers

Question: My brother is the Trustee of our deceased Mother's estate. I have asked him on several occasions to give me copies of various documents and he has failed to do so. I have very little information regarding the Trust or the financial distributions. How can I get copies of those documents? He has since sold the house that our mother left to both of us but I have seen no money from that sale. He still refuses to give me any information. What can I do?

Answer: When a person dies and leaves behind a will directing how their estate is to be distributed, the will must go through a legal process called probate. Probate is the judicial process of determining the validity of a will and, once validity is established, directing the distribution of the deceased’s property in accordance with his or her wishes. Because probate proceedings are court proceedings, the records of the proceedings are usually available for public access. Probate case records are held by the superior court in the county where the probate proceedings were held. Therefore, if the probate process occurred in Maricopa County, the records should be found with the Maricopa Superior Court. A list of the superior courts and direct access to their respective websites can be found on the Arizona Judicial Branch’s Superior Court page. http://www.azcourts.gov/AZCourts/SuperiorCourt.aspx If assistance is needed in locating court records and public files, ask the court clerk for further assistance.