Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Indiana

Re: Illigetimate Child in the Will

Your mother made a decision at some time after your birth to either have paternity established or not, and to collect child support or not. If paternity was established and support sought, but your father evaded or avoided paying, there is a statute of limitations from the time you were emancipated to begin collecting past due support. If there were no order and paternity was not established, it will be difficult to inherit from his estate, although you have a very limited amount of time to establish paternity after a man dies. If he acknowledges you in his will (assuming paternity has not been established), then whatever he provides for you is what you get. If he is merely silent about you and paternity has not been established you can inherit an intestate share as a pertermitted heir.

Re: Illigetimate Child in the Will

In Florida, if your father specifically dishenritited you and your mother in his will, you will not get a share of the estate under probate law. If you are mentionned in the will at all, you will get whatever the will says you get. However, assuming that paternity was established at some point, you may be able to get a share if the will is silent about you and you were born after the will was executed. Your mother, unless she was legally married to your father at the time of his death cannot collect more than what the will gives her. Also, see how the will defines "children" if at all. If a bequest was made to the class of "my children" and the definition does not exclude someone of your status (I can't tell from your question), you may be able to get a share as a member of the class. Good luck.