Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Maryland
My brother passed away within the last month and a week ago we got a call from a person stating he is my brothers son (we never met this person or heard my brother talk of them). Now they are trying to take my brothers things (car, items inside my house they think were my brothers). They have a paper that was signed by my brother in early 1980 stating he was the father. Is there a way we can force them to take a DNA test since this was not available at the time he signed the paper? There is no will. Thank you!
1 Answer from Attorneys
No heir (legitimate or otherwise) should simply be able to take things titled in the deceased person's name. Instead, property should be disbursed through the deceased person's estate, and if they had no will, through the laws of intestate succession.
Maryland law recognizes 4 different ways that a child will be considered to be an heir of a man not married to the mother:
(1) if the courts decide in paternity proceedings;
(2) if the father acknowledged himself, in writing, to be the father;
(3) if the father openly and notoriously recognized the child to be his child; or
(4) if the father later married the mother and acknowledged himself, orally or in writing, to be the father.
If any acknowledgement itself comes under attack that kind of challenge would need to be handled through the courts. Please note that this general information does not substitute for legal advice.
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