I am 54, live in Croatia, born in legal marriage and left by biological father when I was 2. He first lived in Italy, remarried (not telling he was married before with a child) and in 1959 started living in California. Developed a successful business, lived with his Italian wife, having no children. Being so distant (Croatia - USA) he thought he would escape every responsibility and prevented to be in contact with the daughter. He died in January this year and I, by chance, saw his death announcement on internet. Everybody in his family pretended I did not exist. What are my rights? I would not be able to support an expensive legal process. Is there a possibility to look for the legal rights for myself and my daughter (his granddaughter). Would it be possible to learn about the inheritance procedure that was followed in his case. Could I be protected by Californian law, although they wanted to excllude me of everything. Appreciating advice. Ljiljana

If you mean you would want to contest the will because you were left out, then hire a good lawyer in California and plan on spending a lot of money, but you say you live in Croatia, then how would you plan on attending proceedings once it went to court ?

You were not mentioned in his will, that was his option.

California law allows a child to be disinherited by clearly specifying in a will that the child not receive any of the estate.

So, if you were not mentioned in the will at all, then you may have grounds to contest it. If there was no will, then you may have grounds to claim a portion of the estate if you can prove the relationship.

But to do so, you will need to hire an attorney in CA to act on your behalf. It may not be necessary for you to be present at any hearings. It may also be possible to find an attorney to take your case on a contigency basis.

So you need to find an attorney based in CA immediately.

And to add, if this was a very large estate, you may find a attorney that will help you for a percent of what they win for you.

Again, if he did not mention you at all in the will, or if there was no will you have a good chance of getting a share if you file soon enough