I have recently found out that my biological father passed away last year in Indiana. He had remarried and she did not notify me. Do I have any rights to his estate? What do I need to do or is it too late?

There are no inherent 'rights' to an estate. If you were mentioned in the will, then you should have been notified. If the will was probated, a copy is on file in the probate office in the town in which he died for anyone to see. If he wrote a will mentioning you, usually you are notified when the will is written, and your address at that time is included. It's possible that this wasn't done, but I have a feeling your father would have contacted you at some point before he died, so chances are his new wife inherited everything.

First, check with the Probate Court in that Town. Ask for a copy of the Will.

There are other considerations. Were you adopted by someone else?

A brief review of the law indicates (in Indiana): The spouse who survives spouse inherits the whole estate if no... children... of the decedent outlive him.

The surviving spouse is entitled to inherit... one-half if any descendant (child) is alive.

If the decedent (your father) has a descendant from a previous marriage, the surviving spouse inherits only one-quarter of the value of any real property."

As you can see it matters if your parents were married.

If you would like to be more specific I can give you more specific info.

Of course, your father could have put in a blurb about leaving you nothing in his Will.

I was assuming a will that left you nothing, and forgot to mention what the law is if no will is left, which JudyKayTee listed above.

I was assuming a will that left you nothing, and forgot to mention what the law is if no will is left, which JudyKayTee listed above.


Even WITH a Will if there is no mention of a child it is PRESUMED that the person who prepared the Will (the testator) FORGOT about the child and that is grounds to contest the Will. I'm not saying it's a winning argument but it can tie up an estate for a long time, cost everybody a lot of money and end up with someone being paid to go away.

That's why if a person who could inherit by law is covered by language similar to "I make no provision for my daughter, X" or something similar. NY, in fact, no longer says, "I make no provision for my daughter, X, for reasons she knows" (or similar) because Wills were contested on the grounds, "I don't know why." Now it's a straight forward statement.

I know it seems backwards but that's how it is.

To take this a step farther my late husband provided well for his children, my stepchildren. My Will contains language to that effect so they cannot claim against my estate.

Interesting, right?

And you say bio father, were you adopted by someone else ?

And you say bio father, were you adopted by someone else ?


I also asked about this - and OP (so far) hasn't been back.

Then there's the whole "was there DNA testing, what is the proof that he's your father" line of thinking, depending on the situation.

My father and mother were married for 2 years and I have a sister. He left her for his present wife. I was never adopted. He had two children with his present wife. I don't know if there was a Will. His present wife gave him the choice his life with her or us. He chose her. He never paid child support or sent birthday cards or presents. I may sound bitter but I always held out hope he would contact us someday. We never asked for anything and my mother never went after the back child support. I appreciate everyone's answer. I will try to find if there was a Will if not are my chances better?

I have gone to the Washington County Probate Court and there is no record of a Will in my fathers name.

Wait, you say you were never adopted, but you say he is your bio father? Which is it?
Google 'WA intestate' (make sure you don't spell it interstate) or go to a site like mystatewill.com.
If he isn't your bio father, you aren't on the intestate list.
If he is, you might have a small chance.
Wills aren't always probated, if it's a small estate. That makes it difficult to track down.

Oh sorry, you were responding to a question about being adopted elsewhere.
It looks like you could inherit 1/8 of any of the estate that was not community property with his new wife, such as a house in both names, bank accounts, etc. 1/4 for each of 4 children. 1/2 to the wife, along with all community property. Given that the house and accounts might easily be in both names, the children might get nothing without a will.

He's my biological father. Why would I have to be adopted? He did not have a Small Estate. He owned a large amount of property.

I don't believe Indiana is a community property state. I probably just need to contact a lawyer for a consultation and see what my options are.

I got the information from the Indiana intestate code, which you can do. Community property regarding divorce is another matter entirely. This is community property after death.

The Q about adoption is relevant because if your mother had married someone else who had adopted you, you would have no claim to your bio father's estate.

My father and mother were married for 2 years and I have a sister.
I assume you were born in their marriage thus you are his legal child.

I have gone to the Washington County Probate Court and there is no record of a Will in my fathers name.
Then the statuory statute governs:
Surviving spouse-. If the decedent has a descendant from a previous marriage, the surviving spouse inherits only one-quarter of the value of any real property.
Descendants-Children are entitled to equal shares
Indiana Code TITLE 30 Table of Contents (http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title30/)
Indiana Code 29-1-2 (http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title29/ar1/ch2.html)
Have a look at IC 29-1-2-12.1
IC 29-1-17-15.1
Petition to determine heirs of estate; contents; notice; hearing; decree
Sec. 15.1. (a) Whenever any person has died leaving property or any interest therein and no general administration has been commenced on his estate in this state, nor has any will been offered for probate in this state, within five (5) months after his death, any person claiming an interest in such property as heir or through an heir may file a petition in any court which would be of proper venue for the administration of such decedent's estate, to determine the heirs of said decedent and their respective interests as heirs in the estate.

Surviving spouse had two children with the decedent, bringing her back to 1/2.
Plus, there's the property as tenants in common, usually real estate and bank accounts.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I guess I'm out of luck I just found out he passed away last year. His present wife wasn't going to let us know. So GV70 your answer helped a lot.