Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

If your mother's assets were all jointly titled with your father, with right of survivorship, and your father was named as the beneficiary of the 401k, he did not have to "offer" anything to you.

THIS RESPONSE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, SINCE I DO NOT HAVE ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED, AND I DO NOT HAVE A REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT WITH YOU.

* If the answers to your question confirm that you have a valid issue or worthwhile claim, your next step should almost always be to establish a dialog with a lawyer who can provide specific advice to you. Contact a lawyer in your county or township.

* Another reason for contacting a lawyer is that it is often impossible to give a good answer in the Internet Q&A format without having more information. The unique circumstances of your situation and things that you may not have thought to mention in your question may completely change the answer. If you want to be sure that you have a complete answer to your question and an understanding of what that answer means, establish a connection with a lawyer who practices in the area of your concern.

Why do you think you are entitled to anything? Children do not have a "right" to inherit and can be completely excluded if a parent chooses,

You leave out the most important details. Such as did your mother have a will? If so, who was the beneficiary? Where did she live at the time of her death? Was an estate probated for her? Were there any probate assets?

Things like a house and a 401(k) are non-probate assets. If your parents owned the home as husband and wife, chances are that the house passed to your father automatically. If your father was the beneficiary on the 401(k) then he also would inherit that and there may be nothing to probate. If that is the case, you were not entitled to anything.

I suggest that you see if your mother had a will and whether there an estate was probated for her. You do that by contacting the probate court in the county/state where your mother lived at the time of her death. If there was probate, then the file will contain a will, if any, an inventory of the probate assets, and an accounting indicating where those assets went.

If there was no will, you may want to consult with a probate attorney in the county/state where an estate was probated. You may have certain rights under the intestacy laws, but this will depend on what your mother owned that was a probate asset. Again, if all your mother had were non-probate assets or if the intestacy laws were such that whatever probate assets your mother had went to your father, then you inherit nothing.

My advice in such case would be to be nice to your father so you will inherit from him when he passes.