Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

Your father died in 1990. Its now 2014. Chances are that any statute of limitations has long since expired.

What are your reasons for doing nothing for 24 years? Anybody can sue any body else at any time for anything. The question is not whether you can sue but whether you can prevail. The answer to that is "it depends." You not only have to overcome the time issue but you claim you were "cheated" and that ee-vill stepmother "overrode" your father's will. However, you offer no facts to support these allegations and the question of whether she did or did not will require examination of the will as well as the law of the state where your father lived at the time of his death.

A will can be "overridden" in certain circumstances. One of those can occur where a person makes a will and then marries and does not make a new will. In such case, the law sometimes allows the spouse who was left out to get a piece of the estate. Is that what happened here or was there something else?

Proceeds from a negligence suit would be part of the estate or it could pass outside of probate to the heirs but again, it depends on how any will was written and the law of the state where your father lived at the time of his death.

I don't understand why you are directing your question to GA attorneys unless GA is where your father lived at the time of his death. While the negligence suit for mesothelioma was in NM, you do not indicate the relevant details. Was it in NM because that is where your father lived at the time of his death? If so, NM is a community property state and they have very different rules for inheritance. You would have to talk to a NM attorney in that case. If your father lived elsewhere, then the fact that a lawsuit was in NM is irrelevant as the proceeds from the lawsuit would have been paid to your father's estate or heirs.

Your biggest issue is that you claim all this wrongdoing but fail to explain why nothing was done for 24 years. Its not me being rude and asking - any lawyer is going to want to know and you can believe that if a lawsuit was filed the other side would be raising statute of limitations issues. There is no such thing in the courts as justice. Justice is what you make of it given what you have. There is an old maxim in the law that "equity aids the vigilant, not those who slumber on their rights." The fact is that from all appearances, it looks like nothing was done for 24 years. If you were minors, then your mother should have asserted rights as guardian on behalf of the children or depending on your age and the law this should have been done as soon as you turned 18 if your mother was unable or unwilling to do anything to protect your rights. If the answer is you just did not know then you were under a duty to find out if no one stopped you from getting a lawyer.

If you are really curious, then you will get a copy of the estate file as well as any relevant documents from the negligence action indicating how much was paid in settlement and to whom and sit down with a probate lawyer who practices in the county/state where your father's estate was pending at the time of death and pay the lawyer to review everything and find out where the money went. After such review, the lawyer can then advise whether anything can be done at this time or not.

However, who exactly are you planning on suing? The step-mother? Is she still alive? Your next hurdle after the timing would be to see if she engaged in any particular wrongdoing that would justify the imposition of relief.