Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania
submitting a bill to dad's estate and contesting a will
I cared for my dad for 7 months before his death. i was one of 2 primary caregivers. my dad told me when he first came home from the hospital that i was to keep a record of all my hours and mileage and i will be paid. he told me that he was going to give me a lot of money before he could, someone stole a large sum of his money that he kept at home in a security box. i don't have the proof, but i believe my stepmother took it. they were married 4 yrs. she felt that she deserved everything he had. also, after my dad death, my stepmother and one sister when to the lawyers and my dads will was read. my other siblings and i were never told about the reading, but a relative of my stepmother told my brother that the stepmother and sister share my dad's estate 50/50 and that we can not contest the will. my stepmother isexecutor none of us has seen the will we don't know if it was preobated yet. can i submit a bill to dad's estate for the care i gave him and can i contest his will
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: submitting a bill to dad's estate and contesting a will
You may find out if the will was probated (filed with the Register of Wills) by checking with the Register of Wills for the County where your father resided at the time of his death. That office would also be able to tell you if someone was authorized to act on behalf of the estate. Reading a will in a lawyer's office is not the same as probating it, and does not give anyone authority to act on behalf of the estate.
As a child of a deceased, you may challenge a will if you believe that your father was unduly influenced or not competent at the time he wrote the will (these are difficult issues to prove). The challenge is usually made when you receive a notice that the will has been filed. If he was mentally competent to make a will and was not unduly influenced, and left everything to his wife and your sister, he was legally able to do so.
It is difficult to be paid for your care-giving during your father's final illness, unless he put in writing that you were to be paid and/or you are a health care professional. You should consult a local attorney to help sort out your rights.
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