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Rhondaroo · Feb 9, 2010, 07:42 PM

I just found out that 25 years ago when my father died, my stepmother didn't give me the amount of money left to me in his will. Is it too late to do anything about it.

ScottGem · Feb 9, 2010, 07:47 PM

Probably. If the estate has been settled you can no longer make a claim. It would also be too late to sue your stepmother.

Fr_Chuck · Feb 9, 2010, 07:49 PM

Was the will done though probate ? Was there even money in the estate, many times bank accounts are joint owners as homes and there is no "estate" money for wills to pay out.

But after probate is settled there are time frames to challenge, all would be passed by now

Rhondaroo · Feb 9, 2010, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Was the will done though probate ? was there even money in the estate, many times bank accounts are joint owners as homes and there is no "estate" money for wills to pay out.

But after probate is settled there are time frames to challenge, all would be passed by now

I have no idea.. all I know is that there was money left to me in his will and I wasn't given it.

Fr_Chuck · Feb 9, 2010, 08:17 PM

I will give you an example, lets say the will says to give you 40,000 dollars,

The problem is that there has to be at least that much in the estate.

If let say a house is in joint names with right of survivial, then it does not go into the estate, and jointly owned bank accounts don't go in.

When my wife died, there was nothing for the estate since everything was jointly owned.

So even if I had a will, no one would have gotten anything, since there was no money in the estate for anyone to get.

Now if there was money in the estate, was that the current will ?
I have had 10 or more wills over the years, so one found from 5 years ago, would not be valid any longer. Since I wrote a new one this year.

So even if there was a time frame, there is no way to tell if the will was even the valid one at the time.

Even if you proved they knew it, and cheated you, the criminal charges would be outside the SOL also.

Rhondaroo · Feb 9, 2010, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

I will give you an example, lets say the will says to give you 40,000 dollars,

The problem is that there has to be at least that much in the estate.

If let say a house is in joint names with right of survivial, then it does not go into the estate, and jointly owned bank accounts don't go in.

When my wife died, there was nothing for the estate since everything was jointly owned.

So even if I had a will, no one would have gotten anything, since there was no money in the estate for anyone to get.

Now if there was money in the estate, was that the current will ?
I have had 10 or more wills over the years, so one found from 5 years ago, would not be valid any longer. since I wrote a new one this year.

So even if there was a time frame, there is no way to tell if the will was even the valid one at the time.

Even if you proved they knew it, and cheated you, the criminal charges would be outside the SOL also.

There was money... she gave me a very small portion of what I was to be given and she vacationed and bought a house with the rest. Guess I'm just SOL ( out of luck)
Thanks for you help