| Surprise, Surprise…read on:
READER QUESTION:
I recently found out that my husband has a stepbrother who was born out of wedlock many years ago after my husband’s parents separated. The stepbrother has his mother’s last name and was never mentioned or recognized at any family events. Does the stepbrother have any legal right to contest my husband’s will or trust when he passes?
MY RESPONSE:
Cool question! I think a lot of people may find this interesting. As a New York estate planning attorney, I get a variation of this question all the time. The bottom line question is WHO CAN CONTEST?
The answer depends on who is getting cut out of the will or trust. Or in other words, who would inherit under New York law if the document did not exist? The answer in your case is that the spouse gets everything if there are no kids. If there are kids, then the spouse and kids split it. In either case, a brother, known or not, would not inherit and therefore he has no right to contest. To put it differently, if he prevailed to throw out the document, he still would get nothing!
However, if you pre-deceased your husband and he has no children or parents that are living, then his siblings would have standing to contest, even a long-lost one.
On the other hand, this long-lost stepbrother might be able to contest your husband’s mother’s estate plan.
Keep in mind that the right to contest and winning the case are two very different things.
I hope this helps. |
