Left out of will

Georgia (where my father died) north carolina (where i live)
MY father passed away in Feb of this year. I went there (a 3 hour drive) as he was dying. my step mother informed me that dad was being creamated. that night i stayed at her(and my fathers) house and she and my step brother had talked about dad not wanting to live anymore in the state of health he was in ( he had also developed dementia) he was 83. that was when she and my step brother said they had discussed giving him 5 or 6 vallium and letting him "sleep out of this world"..they then laughed it off while having ****tails and nothing more was said. I was horrified. I asked for some of my dads ashes and was denied. I was then informed that he left EVERYTHING to my step mother, shocking as i'am an only child. when it came time to probate the will, i recieved one page that required my signature...no copy of the will..nada. about a month ago she called me wanting my social security #. i had just had surgery and was on painpills,,i gave it to her. what in the world would she need THAT for??? i have since contacted her thru an email asking her why she needed my social..no response. the (her) house is filled with things that belonged to my mother before her death. I asked for my dads air force wings and was again refused. my question is this: do i have a leg to stand on contesting his will?? i have sent to georgia for a copy of it.

You need not only the copy of the will, but also a copy of the entire probate file.

Also, when (if you know) was the will written?

seniorjudge said:

You need not only the copy of the will, but also a copy of the entire probate file.

Also, when (if you know) was the will written?

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I will include that in my request (the whole file) ty. Im not sure when it was written, but his wife told me that he had been experiencing dementia since 2001..getting progressivly worse as the years went by. My concern is that she changed the will and since his dementia was not extremley noticable..she may have done something without him realizing what he was doing.

If the will was written in 2001 or later, hire a lawyer in the county where the will was probated.

seniorjudge said:

If the will was written in 2001 or later, hire a lawyer in the county where the will was probated.

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Thank you very much for such a speedy reply

You received one page of "what" that required your signature?

First find out the estimated value of the estate before you spend lots of money getting an attorney to contest the will on your behalf.

Dandy Don said:

You received one page of "what" that required your signature?

First find out the estimated value of the estate before you spend lots of money getting an attorney to contest the will on your behalf.

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So how does one find out the approx value of the estate?

update

The page that was sent to me by my step mother, was the page of the will that required my signature to start probate. since I was his only child. I just recieved a copy of the will from the state of georgia. as suspected the will was changed in april of 2007. my father already had advanced dementia by then. my name is not even spelled correctly (middle inital wrong & last name from a previous marriage) altho I do have a postcard from my dad where he mailed it to my correct last name in 2005. It was my step mother who could never get my name right. Now I know why she did not want me to see the actual will. I still have the postcard. My father had a sizeable estate in a gated community, there were stocks, bonds, real estate, my step mother made out like a bandit...how appropriate.

ftaylor said:

The page that was sent to me by my step mother, was the page of the will that required my signature to start probate. since I was his only child. I just recieved a copy of the will from the state of georgia. as suspected the will was changed in april of 2007. my father already had advanced dementia by then. my name is not even spelled correctly (middle inital wrong & last name from a previous marriage) altho I do have a postcard from my dad where he mailed it to my correct last name in 2005. It was my step mother who could never get my name right. Now I know why she did not want me to see the actual will. I still have the postcard. My father had a sizeable estate in a gated community, there were stocks, bonds, real estate, my step mother made out like a bandit...how appropriate.

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In your first post you say that you were not in the will. Now you say that your name was wrong in the will. What did the will say about you?

Are you sure that your signature was required for them to start probate? I don't think any such thing is necessary. What did that paper say? Ths whole bit sounds odd at best.

Has probate actually been started? If not you can file with probate court.

Sounds to me like you need an attorney in the town where he lived/died. Challange the will. It sounds like it was fraudulant. The fact that your name is wrong is pretty good proof.

reply to questions

The reason I said I was left out of the will is because my stepmother called and told me my dad left everything to her.(mind you ,im an only child). I had to wait for her to probate the will before the probate office would send me a copy of it. The only reason my name was in it at all was if she died within 30 days of my fathers death, I would get one fifth (she has 4 sons, none my fathers) They were all listed before me! btw...all their names were correct. My father passed away in Feb 2008, so she has survived the 30 days...leaving me nothing, not even the smallest momento. dads estate is considerable. He was in the Air Force, worked the same job all his life as an areonautical engineer. she has already stated traveling again and is set to leave on an alaskan cruise aug. 4th. I agree..it is time for an attorney, as their are many strange facts to all of this. thank you for your help.

ftaylor said:

The reason I said I was left out of the will is because my stepmother called and told me my dad left everything to her.(mind you ,im an only child). I had to wait for her to probate the will before the probate office would send me a copy of it. The only reason my name was in it at all was if she died within 30 days of my fathers death, I would get one fifth (she has 4 sons, none my fathers) They were all listed before me! btw...all their names were correct. My father passed away in Feb 2008, so she has survived the 30 days...leaving me nothing, not even the smallest momento. dads estate is considerable. He was in the Air Force, worked the same job all his life as an areonautical engineer. she has already stated traveling again and is set to leave on an alaskan cruise aug. 4th. I agree..it is time for an attorney, as their are many strange facts to all of this. thank you for your help.

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It's amazing how cruel people can be. Good luck on fighting this.

If there are medical records from his physician showing approximate date when he had been officially diagnosed with Alzheimers, then this will be a slam dunk for you. Most likely your attorney will be able to get the will automatically invalidated and then perhaps the estate will be divided according to intestate probate procedures (meaning without a will) where you will certainly be granted a portion of the estate.

Shop around with about 5-6 different probate attorneys, and ask if they have experience contesting wills, before you choose one. Do NOT pay a large retainer upfront and only pay for an initial hourly consultation until you decide which one to hire.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

thank you

thanks to all of you who answered my questions. yes his dementia is documented since aprox 2002. In fact my daughter (who is 35) went there with me to visit him last year and he kept calling me by her name (im a very youthful 51 and we do look alot alike) but still in all he was def confused. I have given this alot of thought and I just dont know if I should persue this. If she (my stepmother) can live with what shes done, perhaps I can live without it. Im still undecided. but your help has been greatly appreciated..this is a wonderful site. thanks again!

Have no doubt that your step mother can live with what she did.... and most likely feels justified in doing it too.

People who do these things have little to no concience.

I beg you to please pursue it--you have been wrongfully victimized and there is no doubt you will win and win big!! The law and the evidence are on your side--she has committed a crime and needs to be called on it. Talk to 5-6 attorneys before you decide on the best one to represent you--do NOT pay a large retainer fee unless you can afford to do so, and the lawyer should have experience contesting wills. If you are poor and can not afford to pay for an attorney's services, please say that in the interview--this case is so big that a smart attorney will delay his fee until you get your judgement.

You also need to mention to the attorney he circumstances about their comments about the valium overdose--if an autopsy is done and if a valium overdose was a contributing factor, if it can be proven that these 2 people had a part in the death they can probably be prevented from any inheritance at all if your state has such a law on the books.

You could be eligible to receive as much as HALF of the estate.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])