text: Wills can be hadwritten, or typed and signed without needing an attorney.  If he did soemthing like that, and then buried the will in a shoebox in the backyard, well, it woudl be a legal and binding will, if only it could be found.  Unfortunately that is a problem with wills, they are somewhat easy to create, but you do need to make sure that someone knows where it is.  As another poster suggested, speaking with a local attorney and checking all records for safety deposit boxes, or even a handwritten note that is actually a will could do it for you.