Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania
My mother passed away last year. Her and dad were married 39 years. My dad passed away two months ago. My parents had two children (myself and my sister) They were also both previously married and each had a child. Mom had a son and my father had a daughter. Mom's son lived with us 100% of the time and was part of the family (my dad even raised him as his own)....while dad's daughter would visit "when she wanted". When she did visit, she would steal, lie, and bash my mothers character to the family. My father told her not to come back to visit if she didn't respect the rules of the house and more importantly his wife. Well that was 25 years ago. She never did visit again or call....or write or nothing. Now that dad has passed, how much is she entitled to from his estate? There was no will. Any advice? What happens now to my brother? Nothing? Please help.
2 Answers from Attorneys
This is exactly the situation I use when I tell my class, "Make your own will because if you don't, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has one for you, and you probably won't like it."
While it is difficult to give an exact answer without more information, right now there is a huge problem I see with your brother's share of the estate. It is important to recognize that there are many different scenarios that can take place when distributing an intestate estate in PA. The law of Intestate Succession can be found at 20 Pa.C.S.A. � 2104. You can always contact me back for further advice at [email protected].
Mike
This is like a law school exam. Dad died first with no will. His estate would have gone to your mother and his biological children only, one half to your mother and the other half divided between his daughter, you and your sister. So the estranged daughter gets 1/3 of 1/2 of the estate. When your mother died, her share of the assets would go to her biological children only. So your half-brother, you and your sister would inherit from mom and would get 1/3 of whatever mom had. The exception might be something called "equitable adoption" (I have not researched this yet in PA and can't say whether it exists) but that is generally where a party takes steps to fomally adopt but just does not get around to completing it. Just having a child live with you is not enough.
However, you are going to need a probate lawyer to get this all sorted out.
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