Inheritance Claim

What is the name of your state? California

My husband's late brother passed away in May 2000, intestate. He was unmarried, nor had ever been married, and as far as we knew, had no children. The probate/estate attorney who dealt with the case carried out all the legal requirements in searching for family members, or children, and everything was taken care of according to California law. Since my husband was the only remaining sibling, he inherited the estate. Now, 8 years later, someone has come forward claiming to be a son of the descedent , though not by the descedent's marriage (he was never married). Is there a statute of limitations in California, for how long after the death of a person, somebody can claim to be a child of the descedent? Or is there a statute at all? also, would my husband be forced to take a DNA test?

Thanks for any advice.

You don't have anything to worry about. He should have come forward during the probate process and since probate is now over, he has no legal claim for anything. He waited too late.

Dandy Don said:

You don't have anything to worry about. He should have come forward during the probate process and since probate is now over, he has no legal claim for anything. He waited too late.

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Thank you very much for your prompt reply.

Do you know that it's an inheritance he is after, or is he trying to connect with his biological family? If it is the latter, it would be a kindness for your husband to agree to a DNA test so that the guy can at least know whether he really found his (deceased) father. Maybe your husband would end up happy to know his nephew (if indeed he is).

las365 said:

Do you know that it's an inheritance he is after, or is he trying to connect with his biological family? If it is the latter, it would be a kindness for your husband to agree to a DNA test so that the guy can at least know whether he really found his (deceased) father. Maybe your husband would end up happy to know his nephew (if indeed he is).

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Not a good idea...

las365 said:

Do you know that it's an inheritance he is after, or is he trying to connect with his biological family? If it is the latter, it would be a kindness for your husband to agree to a DNA test so that the guy can at least know whether he really found his (deceased) father. Maybe your husband would end up happy to know his nephew (if indeed he is).

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We don't know, at this point, if he's after an inheritance, or trying to connect to his biological family (if indeed my husband is his uncle). My husband, as of now, has not been asked to submit to a DNA test. Although, one would think, that if he wanted to connect to his biological family, he would have done something about that while his ''supposed'' father was still alive, rather than waiting till 8 years after his death! True, he may not have realized back then that he ''may'' be the son of my late brother in law, we just don't know. However, if claimants can only claim during the probate process (which was finalized 8 years ago), as DonnyDon mentioned earlier, then obviously that would put an end to the matter, unless there's some Californian statute we don't know about.

Dandy Don said:

You don't have anything to worry about. He should have come forward during the probate process and since probate is now over, he has no legal claim for anything. He waited too late.

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Once probate has been closed, could there ever be grounds for re-opening it? if so, what would those grounds be and what would be the time frame for re-opening probate?