Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

While I am not discouraging you from continuing the search....don't get your hopes up that the money was actually saved for you.

First, divorce papers are NOT a will. And just because divorce papers said something does not mean that one of the parties obeyed what is in the papers. That certificate of deposit could have been cashed in long ago.

Since your father just died, the important questions to ask is not what some divorce agreement says but the following:

(1) did your father have a will?

(2) where did your father reside at the time of his death?

(3) who is the personal representative named in the will or if none, was your father re-married at the time of his death? if he did not have a surviving spouse or named personal representative, then how many children did he have? Have any of the named children considered opening an estate for him?

(4) does an estate even need opened, meaning are there assets justifying probate? what did your father own and how was it titled?

(5) if there is a will, what does it say about who the beneficiaries are? there is no right to inherit and if you were estranged from your father then he could have completely cut you out from any inheritance if he had a mind to do so. However, this has to be done correctly and if there is a will which does not include you, I would have a probate attorney who practices in the county/state of your father's residence review the will and circumstances to see if the will can be challenged (this would also depend on if there are probate assets - if not, then a challenge will be meaningless). If there is no will, then you are entitled to a share of your father's probate estate. The size of your share will depend on whether your father had a surviving spouse, whether he had any other children and whether there are any claims against the probate estate.

Beyond that, if a certificate of deposit is referenced in these papers, where was it held? Have you tried contacting the bank who issued it to see what happened to those funds? The bank probably will not release any information to you unless you are the personal representative of your father's estate if the certificate of deposit was in his name. However, the personal representative, once appointed, can get this information. If the certificate of deposit was in your mother's name (my guess it wasn't) then she can call.