Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Wisconsin
Will
My father remarried and his wife (now deceased) has a daughter who is now taking care of him (paying his bills etc.) - he never adopted this daughter - if he dies and leaves everything to her - does my sister and I have any rights to the estate/funds? Secondly, my father abandoned us when we were 16 and 11 - we recently found him a year ago. He never contributed one dime to my mother when she was raising us after her divorce from him.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Will
This is a very sad state of affairs. It has been unfair to you and your sister and is not likely to get any better. If your father dies without a will you and your sister, if you are his only biological/adopted children, will inherit everything. But if your father executes a valid will leaving everything to his step daughter (or anyone else) you will be excluded as you have no right of inheritance.
Your only possible basis to receive anything would be if your father was legally obligated to support you through a court order or judgment and owes delinquent support which might be a claim against his estate. As you describe the situation it sounds like your mother may not have pursued child support. You would have to check with the court or social services or hire an attorney to investigate to see if such a claim exists. Of course you father would have had to have inherited or earned and saved or invested his income in order to have an estate large enough to pay a child support claim, even if you have one.