Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey
My fathers Will
In June of 1996, my dad and his wife of 11 years video taped their will at my home, reading from the hard copy. He having 4 kids, her having 3 from previous marriages, they thought this to be best. In July of 2004 they updated their wills, the same as the first..if he dies she inherets all, if she dies first he inherets all. Upon the last ones life, the seven children are named, as to share equally in their assets.Dad passed away suddenly in October of 2004. In December of 2004, the wife had a new will drawn up.....when
she passed away in January of 2006 I obtained a copy of her new will. She changed it to read ''her 3 children'' are to receive all the assets. My question is on behalf of my fathers 4 children, are we entitled to share in their estate, or does her will leave us out entirely. Is is worth contesting? Are we not entitled to receive a share in all of my fathers hard work of 70 years? We 7 children are now all in our mid 40's. I have to tell you with confidence, if my dad had lived longer than the wife, it would have been a 7 way share. Thankyou so very much for your help.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: My fathers Will
Assuming that you have given all of the needed information (and no insult, I assure you, it is almost impossible for a person to give ALL of the critical information in a posting like this), then you may want to consider the following ideas.
You describe what might be considered an agreement between your father and his latest wife, which might be enforceable. I would suggest that you take action now rather than later to see whether you can get this put into the status which you are seeking. If you do nothing until after the woman dies, I do not believe that you will have improved your chances.
If you would like, give me a call to set up an appointment; I am in northern New Jersey. My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru.
Disclaimer: you can not rely on the advice of an attorney given over the internet. The exact facts of your situation, including facts which you have not mentioned in your question, may completely change the result for your situation.
Re: My fathers Will
Unfortunately, you have a big problem...caused by very, very poor estate planning. Unless there are additional facts out there, I believe it will be difficult if not impossible to overturn your stepmother's will.
The problem is that your father's will should never have left his entire estate to your step-mother, outright. A trust for her benefit should have been created in his will, or they should have executed a contract to make a will that would have specifically obligated both of them to include all 7 children at the survivor's death.
In the absence of a written agreement, people are allowed to change their wills whenever and however they please, so your stepmother's will is not invalid solely because it does not include all 7 children.
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