Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

People can do what they want with their property and can leave it to whomever they choose and you have to accept that. So forget principle here. And it does not matter that your mother cared for her father. That is what some children do - care for their parents. That does not entitle your mother or your mother's children to any special consideration or inheritance from your aunt's estate.

Your option would be to challenge the will. In a will challenge, you have to show that at the time your aunt made the will that she was incompetent/lacked testamentary capacity OR that the will was the product of fraud or undue influence of the persons who benefitted under the will.

Assuming that grounds exist, then know that caveat proceedings are very expensive. When you get hit with a big legal bill, you are not going to think of any principle.

You do not indicate what assets are in your aunt's estate, how they are titled and what they are worth. If the caveat is successful, you are not included in the will. Instead, the will is tossed out and your aunt is deemed to have died without a will. Her property would then be distributed to her hers under the intestacy laws of the state where she lived at the time of her death. Usually, since your aunt was unmarried, her property would pass to any children. If she had none and if her parents are dead, then her assets would pass to her living brothers and sisters and if all her siblings are dead, to her nephews and nieces.

You would be included in that category, but there are other nieces and nephews and they would share in any assets. If you have siblings they also would be included. So it could well be that the heirs will get very little at the end of the day. It makes no sense to spend $20,000 to only recover $5,000 or even $10,000. Unless money is no object and you are doing this "for the principle."

Since no attorney her has seen the will, I suggest that you pay for a consult with a probate litigation attorney. The attorney has to review your aunt's entire will to see if the omission was intentional. Also relevant would be when the will was made, your aunt's condition at the time she made the will and whether it was drafted by an attorney. If the will was a form will or made by your aunt, it may not even be valid if it was not executed correctly. Assuming the will is valid, your next questions will be whether you can bring a will caveat and, if so, what it will cost, and what will be the likely outcome. Once you have all that information, you can decide whether or not to pursue a will caveat or other challenge.