Should I contest?

[Nickk]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

My father passed away and left everything to step- mother. I (and my sister, both adopted) am mentioned in my father's will only if step mother has already passed away. My sister's name is not even spelled correctly in the will (done by an attorney). My sister and I (adopted in the first marriage) are to get 1% each of my dad's estate, if step mother was deceased and my half brother (adult) is to get the remainder of the estate.

At my father's death bed my step mother apologized to me for years of "keeping my dad from me and my family" . She seemed very genuine and very upset, saying she wants to "make it up" (not in any financial way- just with a relationship). Over the years we saw each other once or twice a year and spoke once a month on the phone, but always when she was not around. I know you can contest a will but does any of this have any bearing on my chances of a successful challenge due to undue influence? How difficult would this be to prove? My father spoke about me and my children to often to friends and I thought always considered me his child but obviousley I was wrong. Do I have any standing to contest by being completly left out?

The total estate is around $25 million. About $15 million of this was not held jointly and is being probated. The home and several other stock accounts were held JWROS.

 

[divgradcurl]

Your best bet is to obtain a copy of the will, and then sit down with an attorney, who can review all of the facts of your situation and advise you accordingly. Based solely on what you have written, it doesn't sound like you have much of a basis to go on -- it sounds like your father did include you in the will, but only if step-mom were deceased, which suggests his main thoughts were to make sure step-mom was taken care of. Step-mom's comments at his death bed are irrelevant.

Talk to an attorney, and see if there is anything worth pursuing.

 

[Nickk]

Thank you. From the research I did I thought that there was no real basis but I wanted another opinion. I have a copy of the will. I think I am more hurt that the will conveys to me that I was not his son (by blood) and he did not think of me as one of his "real" children. I did not realize this during his lifetime and need to just move on and let this go. A messy court battle that would end up with me being more hurt and looking like I was trying to get something that he didn't want me to have (not to mention the expense of contesting).
I appreciate your opinion, and agree that "Dad" pretty much crossed all of he's T's and dotted his I's.

 

[seniorjudge]

When was the will written?

When did Pa die?

 

[truthandhonor]

In my case, when my Dad died, everything went to my Mom. Upon her death, his half of the estate is districuted his way. M mother's half of the estate is distributed her way.

I am no expert, and just a lay person learning the ropes but I agree with divgradgirl below.See a Trust Litigation attorney right away. If you are going to contest, there is only a brief window to do so because of the statute of limitations according to the laws of our state so do it fast. Don't wait.

In my situation, I was able to file a seperate petition (due to greedy brother's pulling a fast one) with the court called Petition for DECLARATORY RELIEF. If granted by the court, you will not risk losing your inheritance under the NO CONTEST CLAUSE of a trust this way. Ask the attorney about this.

Sadly, 1% may not worth spending all the money you;d spend on contesting a trust. I sure hope your step-mother's heart is for you since your brother's seems to be walking off with everything form your Dad it looks like, uh, uh... However, if your step-mother is genuine, and has no children of her own, it may be in your best interest to discuss your feelings with her. If it were me, I would leave at least part of my holdings to my husband's kids. Hey, but if you're adopted, does not that make you his "legal issue by right of representation?" Check on those terms and see where you stand since you are supposed to be legally adobpted?

 

[Nickk]

Will is dated Aug 03, "dad" died in early June 08.

I wish I was getting 1%, because had I been left anything I would not have requested a copy of the will to find out that only his blood child was to inherit the majority of the estate (but it really doesn't matter because step mom (mother to the blood child) got everything- she is about 10 years younger than dad was). I would have never known how my "dad" felt about his adopted children from his first marriage.

She never liked us coming to visit and made it very difficult to even speak to dad sometimes. I live in a different state and am assuming I need to contact a PA attorney.

Thanks again for all your input.

 

[seniorjudge]

...Will is dated Aug 03, "dad" died in early June 08...

This means it would be extremely hard to win a contest.

 

[Dandy Don]

You most certainly SHOULD contest (but can you afford the attorney fees to do so?). Let's hope your attorney will be smart enough to take your case on contingency (seeing how large the estate is) if you plead poverty. Do not automatically hire the first attorney you interview (almost anyone you talk to will be willing to take this case because of the big money involved but you must be careful not to pick someone who only wants to run up a big legal bill without explaining the merits of the case to you)--talk to about 3 or more until you find one who has experience SUCCESSFULLY contesting wills (and can provide references of people he has successfully defended) and can explain in legal terms why he thinks you have grounds to win and should be able to cite the specific law so you can see it yourself.

The main question to answer in proving undue influence is did your father suffer from any disease (Alzheimer's) or take any medications that would have affected his mental competency during the time he signed the will?

Is there any language in the will that specifically gives a reason why you are being "disinherited" or is there no such language?

How many witnesses were there to this will and are they people who knew your father or were they people that he didn't know and would be more biased towards stepmother?

Is there evidence of a previous will? If so it may help your cause.

Is there a penalty clause in the will that says anyone who contests the will is going to get nothing?

This sneaky little stepmom witch thinks she is being clever/crafty by naming her son (the half-brother) to get the remainder of the estate, but if the father did not have that good of a relationship with this person, this bequest is going to look very suspicious--why would a man of means show favoritism to this stepson over his very own children?

If stepmother gets worried enough she may even be willing to offer you a settlement out of court for a few million dollars for you not to contest!!

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[Nickk]

There is no language that says why I was not left anything and there is no clause about contesting.

The witnesses of the will are my father's attorney and the attorney's secretary. I am sure there was a previous will but only his attorney would have that information. The money he had was almost 100% inheritance from his father which he inherited during his marriage to the step mother.

The brother is my half brother but my dad and step mother's child (full blood son of my father) and he is young and they had a normal father son relationship. He will graduate from college next spring and still lives at home when he is not at school.

He has had health problems for many years and was on many medications but still was very active in the community with service projects, etc... It would probably be difficult to prove any type of mental issue. He had retired but was only 64 when he passed.

 

[Texas Pooh]

If your half-brother is going to graduate from college next spring, that would suggest he is about 20 years old, which further suggests that your father and stepmother have been married for longer than 20 years ...

If so, there is nothing inherently improper with your father leaving his estate to his wife at the time of his death. They had apparently had a long marriage. Despite dandydon's comments, there is nothing to suggest anything improper happened.

As you pointed out, the real issue is an emotional one, finding out that had step-mom passed before your dad, their child would have inherited vastly more than you and your sister. That certainly most be difficult, but, unfortunately, not legally relevant.

 

[Dandy Don]

At what age were you adopted by this man? How long did you know him? It's too difficult to believe that he would have had as long a relationship as he had with you without caring enough to leave you something in his will, and that is going to be one of your defenses.

There is everything to suggest that something improper happened.

#1--If he was interested in disinheriting his adopted children (which I don't think is true), he would have been advised by his attorney to put such a clause in the will. No, the provision that the adopted children would inherit only if the stepmom is deceased is so odd that it is problematic--an idea that would have only come from evil stepmother herself (or her attorney) to make it LOOK as if she was leaving the adopted kids something when in actuality, the deceit covers up the fact that she reasonably knew she would not be deceased at the time of his death and since Pennsylvania law has a requirement that children, adopted or not, MUST BE MENTIONED in the will, she thought she was meeting this requirement.

#2--Witnesses are normally friends or relatives of the person making the will, picked out by that person. Wifey wanted no one else to know about her machinations with this will so she picked her own witnesses to take care of that problem.

#3. The existence of the previous will. Sure will be interesting to see if the adopted children are listed as beneficiaries in the previous will (and whether the 1% deceased stepmother provision is in there as well) and whether the father hired the attorney or whether the stepmother did. Interesting to see exactly what changes were made.

Be sure to ask an attorney about the declaratory relief provision and the status of adopted children as legal heirs. I will be looking at other items in Pennsylvania law to see if any will be applicable/beneficial to your situation.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[anteater]

There is everything to suggest that something improper happened.

#1--If he was interested in disinheriting his adopted children (which I don't think is true), he would have been advised by his attorney to put such a clause in the will. No, the provision that the adopted children would inherit only if the stepmom is deceased is so odd that it is problematic--an idea that would have only come from evil stepmother herself (or her attorney) to make it LOOK as if she was leaving the adopted kids something when in actuality, the deceit covers up the fact that she reasonably knew she would not be deceased at the time of his death and since Pennsylvania law has a requirement that children, adopted or not, MUST BE MENTIONED in the will, she thought she was meeting this requirement.

#2--Witnesses are normally friends or relatives of the person making the will, picked out by that person. Wifey wanted no one else to know about her machinations with this will so she picked her own witnesses to take care of that problem.

#3. The existence of the previous will. Sure will be interesting to see if the adopted children are listed as beneficiaries in the previous will (and whether the 1% deceased stepmother provision is in there as well) and whether the father hired the attorney or whether the stepmother did. Interesting to see exactly what changes were made.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

Texas Pooh is polite. I am not.

Where do you dredge up these fantasies?

 

[Dandy Don]

You are quite welcome to disagree with anything I say. So what? We'll see what the poster's opinion is after they have consulted with a local probate attorney--that's the only opinion that truly matters.

 

[truthandhonor]

If the will or trust does not appear to have any "no contest clause," I would still make certain that you cannot lose your inheritance (1%) under it, and I would seek Declaratory Relief for protection. File within the alotted time frame. There should be a clause on the front page in reference to contesting such as 60 days, 120 days, upon date stamped and signed by trustees. Something smells. Who is the trustee/executer anyway?

Also, in my case, when 4 siblings out of 8 were disinherited by my mother, one of them asked for proof thus the attorney who drafted the trust sent us all my mother;s HAND WRITTEN LETTERS SIGNED AND DATED that specifically stated exactly why (and for good reason in her eyes with explanation) she wanted to leave them nothing.

I agree with Dandy Don. It smells.

In nm situation since it is a substantial estate like yours, instead of paying my attorneys on contingency as they wished, I am paying on DEFERRED PAYMENT since if they were to take a persentage that would be overall too much. I pay by the hour and it is deferred. That means their pay gets recovered from the trust when we win.

 

[anteater]

How can one disagree with a fantasy?

....and since Pennsylvania law has a requirement that children, adopted or not, MUST BE MENTIONED in the will....

I've been through most of PA Title 20. I don't recall seeing anything to that effect. How about a citation?