will of dead beat dad

[pah]

What is the name of your state? MA My Father divorced my mother and left Massachusetts and kept his location secret, never paying child support. He was from NY and moved back there. His relatives kept his location secret from my mother. Just by accident I found out he died in 2004. I requested a copy of probate and will. He left his brother his entire estate. On the will it names his brother and sister as his heirs, but only leaves his brother anything. On the application for probate the brother states that he and his sister are the only heirs and there are no other living relatives. My parents were married 14years and I went to his brothers wedding as a child, so I know he knows I exist. Do I have any legal right to his estate? My father died in New Jersey

 

[nextwife]

Did you also check the list of estate assets to see if the estate actually had anything worth fighting over if you can establish that the will/probate was legally defective??

A parent is NOT legally obligated to leave any inheritance to their children, especially they do not need to provide anything for adult children.

 

[Dandy Don]

You will need to discuss this with a Massachusetts probate attorney since it is not likely that one from that state will be reading this message board.

If you had been properly notified, your mother could have filed a claim for any unpaid child support with the estate, but as it is now you have probably waited too late to do anything because of a statute of limitations. There may have been another legal opening in your favor if the will did not specifically disinherit his children or mention a specific reason why they were being disinherited.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])