Comments in this make me wonder:
http://www.wkrn.com/story/19836352/...d-county-kids-continues-to-search-for-answers
Presumably the grandparents would have made provision for the grandkids to be taken care of in their will (assuming they had one) - if there's already a fight over property, that could be a motive...
It sounds to me that it is more likely that the McClarans either had no will or wrote their own will and kept it in the house (rather than filing it with their lawyer). A lawyer would have insisted that they go through all eventualities (what do you want if Leon dies? If Mollie dies? If both die together? What if Chloie dies with you? etc) and plan for them. A competent lawyer would, anyway.
If there had been a will, there wouldn't need to be any in-family fighting over property, they'd be going through the court system.
Many people, even people with guardianship of children, don't draw up wills (or durable powers of attorney in case of being mentally incapacitated). It's an uncomfortable subject to deal with and most people think they can do it later.
People often think of their net worth in terms of their income and what they have in the bank and don't realise that they may actually have a lot more wealth than they think in terms of property that is fully paid off, etc. While someone who has an income of, say, $35,000 a year from SS, a pension fund and savings may feel like an ordinary Joe, when you throw in the value of the house they paid off before they retired, the two vehicles in good condition, the recreational vehicle, etc, their total estate could easily be worth over $350K.
For someone whose total assets were worth around $35K, a will may not seem all that important. For someone whose assets are worth 10x that, a will is definitely a good idea. Particularly if they have children.
But when you're in good health, it's so easy to put off thinking about all that.
