When a will refers to an ex-spouse by name, the will is considered revoked as to the ex-spouse only. That is, they will not inherit anything from the property of the estate that goes through probate.
Note that there may be provisions in the divorce decree that give the ex-spouse certain rights to retirement accounts, but retirement accounts are not usually part of the probate estate because the funds pass by contract (beneficiary designations on the account).
Yes, a will signed in another state is valid in Nevada, as long as it met the legal requirements for valid wills in the state where it was signed. It may require additional proof of being valid compared to another will, for example, if it lacks a self-proving affidavit of the witnesses.
When a will was written before marriage, and therefore omits the spouse, the spouse is called a “pretermitted spouse.” Pretermitted spouses are given the same share they would have received if the deceased died without a will. The remainder of the estate passes according to the will.
Typically later wills revoke earlier wills, so long as the later will is valid. If the later will is invalid, the earlier will may be valid, so long as by the act of making the new (but invalid) will, the deceased did not revoke the earlier will. This can be a complex question depending on the circumstances, and will likely require testimony of witnesses to determine the outcome.
This depends on whether you believe that the will was still valid, or if the will is missing because the deceased revoked it prior to death by tearing it up, destroying it, or throwing it away.
If you believe the will was still valid, you can provide a copy to the court if there is one. If there is no will, you must submit a statement about what was in the will to the court. Then, whether or not there is a copy of the will, you must call the people who witnessed the signing of the will to court to testify that the will existed. Other witnesses must testify that the will was not revoked and what the will provided for.
If you believe the will was destroyed or disposed of because the testator (person who wrote the will) intended to revoke it, you should let your probate attorney know this fact prior to filing the probate case. This is especially true if copies of the will still exist.
A gift of a specific item, like jewelry or a collection, to someone who has died passes to that person’s estate (and then to their heirs), unless the will states that the gift lapses (skips that person). This may be stated in a different way, such as “My wedding ring to Joe, if he is then living,” “if he survives me,” or “unless he predeceases me.”
A gift of a specific item, such as a particular vehicle, that the deceased no longer owned at the time of death “adeems by extinction,” or in other words, fails because the property is not in the estate. Therefore, the personal representative has no property to give, and it is as if the gift is not written in the will.
The executor has a wide range of options for dealing with property, and unless the will has more specific rules, the executor only has to act reasonably and with the best interest of the beneficiaries in mind. This power includes deciding to abandon property, sell it as is, or improve it using money in the estate. The court will only approve amounts that are accounted for and reasonable.
Yes, and whoever is the executor or personal representative of the estate can be liable as well for failing to probate the estate (and thus change title to the house, collect rent, and/or sell the property). Usually, the person living in the house is a beneficiary of the estate, and the rent unpaid after death can be charged against his or her inheritance. If the estate is small, or they are not a beneficiary of the estate, the unpaid rent will have to be collected from them, which may be difficult to do.
If the sibling refuses to move, the usual eviction proceedings can be used to remove them from the house so it can be handled in the probate case.