Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Congratulations on kicking the habit.

Unfortunately, however, if your father's Will reflected equal distribution of his assets to your siblings and excluded you (due to your addiction), the fact that the circumstances have now changed for the better does not benefit you in terms of the will. I also assume that your father's will has long since been probated and the assets distributed to the other legatees.

Of course, the answer would be different if, for example, the Will had provided that your share be held in trust until such time as certain conditions were fulfilled. However, I understand your posting to mean that you were excluded from the Will (not merely that you did not receive a sum equal to that of your siblings).

The Court lacks the power to rewrite your father's Will. There are circumstances in which the Court is empowered to "reform" the Will, but the fact that you now are more worthy of his largesse is not one of those circumstances, and, moreover, the power to reform a Will does not include the right to add a person as a beneficiary who was not included on the Will.

A Will is very much a snapshot of the testator's mindset at the time the Will was drafted. If circumstances change, a testator may change the Will at any time and, similarly, he was free to revoke the Will. That he did not do either of these things reflects his testamentary intent. It may be that, had he thought about it shortly before his death, he would have made changes, but the Court is without the power to infer those changes.

A child, unlike a spouse, may freely be omitted from the testator's estate.

In a perfect world, each of your siblings would recognize that your father, were he still alive, would wish to confer an economic benefit on you now that you are drug- and alcohol-free, and would kick in part of their inheritances. As you are aware, it is not a perfect world, and you should not hold your breath waiting for funds to come your way.

Good luck to you.