4 Relatives, 2 Wills and Squabbling Over Deceased Man's Belongings

A Barrow County Sheriff’s Office deputy was called to keep the peace Jan. 29 among family members looking to claim property they all believe was willed to them.

According to the incident report, a Jefferson woman whose stepfather recently passed away called the sheriff’s office to settle the civil dispute and tell three relatives to leave the man’s Winder residence.

The woman said her stepdad’s last will and testament left her with possession of the home and all the belongings inside.

She wanted the deputy to tell the three family members to leave everything alone.

The deputy wrote in the incident report that the woman had a copy of the will, dated 1993.

But the relatives inside also had a copy of a will, which was dated 2010, and which gave them claim to at least some of the man’s belongings.

“I had no way of verifying if either will had been probated by the judge due to the fact that the courthouse was closed [because of last week’s winter storm],” the officer wrote in the report.

The deputy told the relatives inside not to take any items from the home until the will was probated and the issue resolved.

The woman still wanted the relatives removed from the home.

“I told her all I could do was advise them not to remove anything from the residence,” the deputy wrote.