Statute of Limitations on Contesting a Will

[tomlindner]

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

It just recently came to my attention that my father expressed the desire to change his will shortly before he died in 2004. It is my understanding that he wanted to leave his half of the estate to his siblings, with the other half left to his wife. But the will didn't get changed before he passed, so the entire estate went to his wife.

Since there is nothing on paper to prove his intentions, is it possible to contest the will if there is other evidence (heresay) to his intentions?
Has the Statute of Limitations run out, or is there a possible exclusion based on "new information" (evidence) that I just recently became privy to?

 

[anteater]

I presume that the will was probated, right?

I can't come up with the time limit in New York offhand, but I have to guess that it well less than several years after the will was probated.

Is the "new information" his intention to revise his will? I always hate to say a flat-out, "No way." But I can't see you getting anywhere with that even if the time limit to contest had not passed.

 

[tomlindner]

I'm not sure about the will being probated?
What does that mean? Nothing was done in court that I am aware of.
The will in force at the time of his death gave the entire estate to his wife.
I don't think anything was done AFTER his death other than transferring the funds from an investment account into a joint savings account under my brother and mother. My brother is the executor under my mother's new will.
It is my intention to honor my father's wishes and/or protect my future inheritance.
My mother is mentally ill and incapable of managing her own finances. I'm convinced that is the reason my father intended to change the will before he died so that his siblings would be guaranteed an inheritance. Before my father died, my sister mismanaged the estate and pretty much helped herself to nearly one-fourth of the estate. Its possible that she convinced my father to change the will so that she would get even more money when he died. When my brother and the family attorney discovered she had embezzled a fourth of the estate funds, they decided not to proceed with changing the will, apparently justifying the decision that my mother would not be left with enough money to meet her future needs. The value of the estate is now down to approx. 250K and not presently invested or protected from future creditors.
It may or may not be relevant that my parents were not living together at the time of my father's death. I believe, however, that this may have had a bearing on my father's intentions to change his will.

 

[nextwife]

If no probate was even filed, how did sis have access to "estate funds"? Did you mean Mom's funds?

Was no probate filed because everything was held jointly with mom or passed outside probate? If so, the "estate" would not have controlled what he owned at death, and contesting the will wouldn't have changed anything.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

You won't successfully contest a will you know was valid with "he woulda, coulda and shoulda".

 

[anteater]

It is my intention to honor my father's wishes and/or protect my future inheritance.

I don't want to be mean, but to put it bluntly: That is not up to you.

Your father's last validly executed will is the will that the court would have admitted to probate, if probate needed to be opened. What he had intended to do is not binding. Check with the Surrogate Court in the county in which your father resided to see if a probate proceeding was begun. But, as nextwife mentioned, it is possible that your father and mother owned property so that the property passed to the survivor when one spouse died without the need for probate.