Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

I have a very complicated question. I have 1 nephew & 3 nieces, siblings, who were adopted in February 2010 by a family. In Dec of 2008 their biological father passed away. He did not have any assests. In the past year my 3 nieces have made contact with their biological mother who lived in Florida. They were re-establishing a relationship with her, their ages are 20, 18 & 17. They were abused by the adoptive family and left that home. The youngest one lives with me. In early Jan 2016 the biological mother's father passed away. Not sure if she inherited anything from him. Her brother is keeping that info private. It turns out that she, their biological mother, passed away towards the end of Jan 2016. Her 4 children, whom she lost custody of and were adopted here in NY, are named in her will to inherit all of her assests (house, bank accounts, 2 cars, etc), she lived in Florida at the time of her death. Are these 4 children entitled to inherit from her since they are named in her will, even though they were adopted? Also how can we find out if their biological mother inherited from her father? J


Asked on 5/18/16, 11:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Walter LeVine Walter D. LeVine, Esq.

Florida probate is quite informative, as most situations involve attorneys at every step of the way and require significant amounts of information. If the biological mother's father also lived in Florida much of the information involving his estate should be available, notwithstanding the reluctance of her brother to provide any information. Is her brother the executor of both estate? If so, he must have provided significant information to the probate clerk. If not her executor, the executor of her estate, or the attorney, should be able to trace everything. Good Luck.

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Answered on 5/19/16, 11:03 am


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