Can't find will....I'm only the granddaughter

My grandfather passed away in December. He told several people he had everything handled, however no one can find a will. He left behind 2 sons. My father and my uncle. Both lazy in their own right, however my uncle has been living off my grandparents for years and has to most to lose if will found. My grandfather spoke to my mother and told her what he wanted done with property, home and money. However now my uncle wants to split 50/50 with my father; which is not what my grandfather wanted. Can I do anything? There is a good amount of land and mineral rights at stake and fear an ugly battle. How can I stand up for my grandfather's wishes?

I'm not a lawyer, but a few things come to mind. 1)check for lawyers names, cards, or paperwork, of the lawyer your Grandfather may have used, and contact them. 2)with a death certificate in hand, have your parent (who was his child) check at the county clerk offices for any possible recorded paperwork such as a will, trust, etc., which he may have had done. 3) if you know he had a safe deposit box, and can find the key, some probate codes (such as Ca) allow the successor interest in the estate to inventory the contents and take originals of any will or trust docs in there, leaving copies in it for the bank and other successors (heirs, etc.). The bank, depending on the situation and their rules, may try to force you to get Letters Testamentary or other such court documents showing that you are the successor interest to the estate; but if so, spending the time and money to do that is worth it. In my case, I did it by calling the superiors of the bank manager, and then his superior, and handing them the probate codes; but I also had paperwork that I was the successor trustee in that case. If I had to have hired the lawyer for that, the quote I got was about $3k; but that was rather high, I thought.

[annjd]

http://www.worldlawdirect.com/article/1077

See the article above as well for a few other possible related ideas.