Wondering if I should contest a will
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Wondering if I should contest a will
Hi,
This is kind of a long story. I will try to make short. I am an only
child. My father remarried my Step Mom in 1969 after my real Mom passed
away in 1967 and he passed away in 1995. My step Mother got everything
when he passed away which I understand. She just recently passed away
about 6 weeks ago and her two daughter not my fathers children got
everything in the will. When my father married her so long ago he came
on board with two houses and she had her own house. My question is
should I contest this Will and do I have any legal rights to the
property he had before he married her.
Thanks for your time.
Asked on May 13, 2017 under Estate Planning, New Mexico
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
You have no right to your father's property--that which he had prior to marrying your stepmother--unless he had willed it to you in HIS will; if he had, you would have received whatever was his alone (not joint or marital property) when he passed away, according to the terms of his will. But if it was all left to her, then it became her property to do with at she pleases. Since she is your stepmother, not adopted or biological mother, you have no inherent right to anything of hers, including what she got from him, when she passed--that is, even if she had no will at all, you would not inherit (stepchildren do not inherit under "intestate succession," or the rules for who gets what when there is no will). Since you would not have inherited in the absence of a will and have no other right to any of her property, you have no "standing," or legal right, to challenge her will.
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