[Cryztyl]

My mother married my stepfather when I was 4 and I am now 48. My mother had 3 children when she married my stepfather, and my stepfather had no biological children of his own, but he considered me & my siblings to be his children. My brother however did not live with my mother and stepfather, but my sister and I did.My mother passed away in 2003 and my stepfather passed away in 2008. I lived with my mom& stepfather all throughout my childhood and even as an adult. My mother did not have a will but my stepfather did. He left my brother and his nephew as executors of his will. My brother however passed away in 2009 leaving my stepfathers nephew as sole executor. This is where things get ugly. My brother told my sister and I after my stepfather passed away that he would be getting 40% of the Estate and would disburss it amongst us 3 siblings and the nephew got 60% to disburss amongst my stepfathers side of the family. But now that my brother has passed away, my sister and I were not even told when the Estate Sale was going to take place and we lost the chance to get any of our parents possessions. I just received a letter from my stepfathers attorney stating that his Estate has been sold and if we have any objections to act now. I do NOT know what to do! My stepfathers nephew was NEVER EVER at one xmas, thanksgiving, birthday or any family gatherings and you will never fing him in any family pictures, but suddenly showed up after my mother passed away and my stepfather had decided to make a will. I just want to find out any information as to what California Laws may entitle me& my sister to (if any?) I was recently given my stepfathers death benefits so why wouldn't I be entitled to some of his Estate? PLEASE HELP!!

[ebaines]

You may want to talk to an attorney in CA about this. But in general since you are not a direct descendant of your step-father you have no speciifc rights to his estate. However, your step-father had a will, and so his estate must be distributed in accordace with that will (unless you can show that the will is invalid). It sounds like you don't know what's in the will, other than a vague assuranvce from your deceased brother that something was coming to him. I suggest that you contact the attorney who sent you the letter and request a copy of the will. Or you can go to the county clerk to view the probate filings. But bear in mind that as a step-son you have few rights here. And while I sympathize with the fact that you and your step-father were close, that actually has no bearing on the case.

As to your stepfather's "death benefits" - I assume that you mean proceeds from a life insurance policy or from a retirement acount. These assets are distributed directly to the named benficiaries outside of the will, and so have no bearing on how the will should be interpreted.