Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: Estate and grandchildren

Your brother's children are entitled to share whatever your brother would have inherited had he been alive at the time of your mother's death. The nature of the lawsuit is not clear, however, anything payable to your mother's estate will be shared by her children (or children of a predeceased child).

Re: Estate and grandchildren

I agree with Norman that under the intestacy statutes your deceased brother's children share in the estate to the extend he would have if he were living. Having no information about the litigation, I do not know if it survivves your mother's death. If it does, and this should be checked with the attorney assisting her, it will be an estate recovery in which your brother's children will also share.