My father passed on in December 2000, all of his estate went to my step-mother whom I do not get along with, my question to you is do I have...

Question

My father passed on in December 2000, all of his estate went to my step-mother whom I do not get along with, my question to you is do I have any rights at all to his estate. I have not asked but I was curious if I had any short of claim or will it go all to my step-sister. As far as I can tell he had no will.

Answer

First, if your father and step-mother held things jointly (joint bank account, home ownership title, vehicle title, ...), then your step-mother succeeded to those things upon your father passing. Next, if there were items in which a beneficiary was named (such as life insurance or a retirement account), then the beneficiary would have received the funds. Next, if there was anything that was part of his estate and he did have a will, then his estate would pass according to the will. To confirm your understanding that there was not a will, you can check if one was filed with the circuit court clerk for the county in which he resided when he passed. It should have been filed there, although there is no guarantee since many people do not know there is a requirement to file the will regardless of probate. You can also inquire whether a probate case was opened, although you should have received notice if one was opened. Finally, if there was not a will, then anything that was part of his estate (not held jointly, not paid to a beneficiary), should have passed half to your step-mother, half to the children (or descendants of any deceased child). The issue that I see now, if you would have been entitled to anything, is the difficulties likely to arise due to the passage of time.

Answer

Further, there is the issue of time. Generally, claims against a decedent's estate should be brought within two years of death. Doesn't this situation point out the advantage of writing a will? Writing a will makes the decedent's wishes clear to all the potential heirs and claimants. If there were a will, there would have been no duty to leave anything to a child. The law protects disinherited spouses but not children.