OksanaMarch
Junior Member
Re: Unfair! Over a million dollars of my dad's money will go to his wife's child?
Everyone, thank you for responding to my question!
I thought my original post was clear but I guess it created some confusion.
My father died in 2009. He was not old and this happened unexpectedly. Several people suggested that he excluded me from the will but this is not the case. HE DID NOT HAVE A WILL. His wife got the house they lived in and about a million dollars.
I did not run to a lawyer as soon as he died, I had a long period of bereavement. When I did see an attorney he told me that in California everything gets passed on to the spouse. He basically said adult children don't have a claim if the wife is alive. Was I just given bad advice? You guys are saying I should have challenged this in court at that time?
There are posts that suggest I mentally let go of this money. Please let me figure out on my own what I do mentally and psychologically. I was just asking a legal question. You see, I am totally clueless about this... I thought maybe there is a law that says in our particular situation the money gets split 50/50 between surviving children.
Some people suggested that I got *some* of the money but this is not the case. Everything went to her. This is what I meant when I said "unfair". Dad worked all his life and she was sitting home (but of course you are going to say that doesn't matter in California). It is fair that I don't get any of it, not a penny?
Everyone, thank you for responding to my question!
I thought my original post was clear but I guess it created some confusion.
My father died in 2009. He was not old and this happened unexpectedly. Several people suggested that he excluded me from the will but this is not the case. HE DID NOT HAVE A WILL. His wife got the house they lived in and about a million dollars.
I did not run to a lawyer as soon as he died, I had a long period of bereavement. When I did see an attorney he told me that in California everything gets passed on to the spouse. He basically said adult children don't have a claim if the wife is alive. Was I just given bad advice? You guys are saying I should have challenged this in court at that time?
There are posts that suggest I mentally let go of this money. Please let me figure out on my own what I do mentally and psychologically. I was just asking a legal question. You see, I am totally clueless about this... I thought maybe there is a law that says in our particular situation the money gets split 50/50 between surviving children.
Some people suggested that I got *some* of the money but this is not the case. Everything went to her. This is what I meant when I said "unfair". Dad worked all his life and she was sitting home (but of course you are going to say that doesn't matter in California). It is fair that I don't get any of it, not a penny?