Father died without will

[Rbauerlein]

My father died in 1996 with no will, I had moved to another state and lost touch, He died leaving an estate of 213,000.00.

When I finally became aware of it the estate had dwindled to 189,000.00. How can I find out where all this money went, and more importantly since it is three years can I still claim my inheritance. This was in New York City and I am having major problem finding out how anything works?

 

[NY Lawyer]

Good news. You should be entitled to your share. The executor had a duty to try to locate you. If he didn't try, then he'd be liable.

If you know the estate went down it probably wasn't distributed yet. Tell the executor right away. It can go down for lots of reasons. One seems that they couldn't find all the heirs and spent time and money looking. There are also accounting and lawyer fees, etc.

You may want to hire a lawyer who does trusts and estates and probate work in NYC to help you. It shouldn't cost too much and at least someone would be protecting your rights.