Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

You left out the most important facts - was there a will and in what state did he live? If there was a will, in many states he could have disinherited you. And without a will, depending on the state, there are some laws that would give a spouse priority over an adult child.

Additionally, insurance goes to the named beneficiary and it is possible to title property where it passes outside a will and goes directly to someone.

Add to that the fact that you found out about his death last year and sat on your rights and did not act until now and that you had no relationship with him, and you have many strikes against a claim.

Having said that, there is a possibility you have some claims, so you need to immediately retain a lawyer where he is to look into probate records and see what rights you do (and do not have).

You do not indicate the county/state where your father resided at the time of his death or whether he had a will.

If he had a will, then his assets will pass as per his will regardless of what you or the family think unless the will can be challenged somehow.

If there was no will, then the wife and any children share the probate assets. However, I do not know how many other children there are, if any, or what probate assets your father may have had.

The only person who cannot be disinherited is the wife. In some states, it is not necessary to go court and get a "legal" separation. In North Carolina, for example, a couple is "legally" separated as soon as one of the parties to the marriage leaves the home with the intent not to be married any longer. Some states do require that one of the parties go to court. In addition, each state has their own laws providing for when a spouse can be disinherited. If the parties had a separation agreement or other marital agreement, then they can. There may be other grounds, such as willfully separating without cause.

Life insurance proceeds and things like 401(k)s or IRAs are non-probate assets and will pass outside of the will to the named beneficiary. So if the wife was named, she gets it and probate law has nothing to do with it. Conversely, if you are named, you would get it. If no one is named, then an estate needs to be probated and the funds are paid into the estate and distributed as per the person's will or as per the intestacy laws.

What you should do at this point is go to the probate court (note that different states may call it by other names such as Surrogates Court or Orphans' Court) in the county/state where your father lived at the time of his death. See if an estate was probated for your father. If so, make copies of at least the relevant documents - the will, if any, the grant of letters, an inventory, final accounting and final order confirming account.

Take the file to a probate attorney in that county/state and pay him or her for 30-60 minutes of his/her time. If there is no file, then gather as much information as you know. You want to find out from the attorney whether you can assert any rights at this juncture.

As for the insurance policy, I don't know who was the alleged beneficiary. If you are the beneficiary and know who the insurer is you can submit a claim. If you are not the beneficiary, the insurer will not talk to you.

If there was no beneficiary, you can try and see if the funds were paid to the state. Check out www.unclaimed.org and select the state where your father lived at the time of his death. If the funds are there, you will comply with whatever requirements are necessary in order to get the funds.