Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: getting to a trust fund

Fairness is not the issue.

You will be able to challenge the Will on the basis that it was a result of undue influence, fraud or that your father was not competent to sign a Will.

If you are successful, and there is no prior Will to the contrary, you (and your siblings, if any) will take roughly one-half of the estate.

Re: getting to a trust fund

I agree with Norman, for the most part, but disagree on the estate distribution if you were succdessful in over-turning his Will or the trust. Additionally, I must caution you that Will and trust contests can be time consuming and very costly, so you also must weigh the benefits to the potential costs. Unless you can prove, as Norman states, that there was fraud or undue influence, or that your father was incompetent, you might not succeed. There is no requirement that a parent must provide for a child, and any child can be disinherited, whether or not there are valid reasons. Participating in an estate is not an entitlement. You do not say what may be the size of the estate, or what your relationship has been with your father over the years. Also, if you are successful in any contest, so that your father is deemed to have died "intestate" (that is, without having a Will), you share with your step-brother and step-mother, as provided by statute. How much, if anything, you might receive, depends upon the value of your father's probate estate (assets passing by the intestacy statute) which does not include jointly owned assets or assets that have someone designated to receive them (like a beneficiary named in insurance, someone named to receive retirement benefits, joint bank accounts, or real estate in joint names with a spouse). This is a reply to an Internet question and the response is not to be considered to be legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Different or undisclosed facts may produce a different response.