contesting a will

[sindelee]

My father recently passed away .He divorced my mother in the early seventies and remarried shortly thereafter. His new wife had 3 children from a prior marriage, leaving me and my 4 siblings as his only blood related children. After divorcing my mother, my siblings and I relocated to different states and had very little contact with our father in the last 25 years, When attending his funeral I was informed that he had excluded me, my brother, and one of my sisters from his will. He had originally left everything to his new wife, however she passed away a few years before he did. A couple years prior to his death, he sold his house for almost 700,000 and moved in with his sister. I believe there is a substantial amount of money involved from his savings, insurance polices, and retirement from The Shell Oil Company after 40 years. My sister just gave me a copy of his will, and after viewing it I have serious doubts to it's validity. He originally left the sum of one dollar to me, my brother and sisters, and my 2 step-sisters. The will is dated 1993 and is type-written, not notarized, but is witnessed by 3 persons whom I have never heard of. The handwriting of my fathers signature and the 3 witnesses appear to be identical. Plus there is another paper dated in 2009 that is an amendment to the original, that states he bequests his money and personal property to be divided equally between 5 people, which are his sister, his 2 remaining step-daughters, and my twin sisters. This amendment is not witnessed, and is signed only by my father. My fathers on each paper signatures show very little similarity if any at all. Both documents are questionable to say the least. I would like to contest my Father's will because it appears to be more fraudulent than valid. I feel his estate should be divided equally between his blood relatives (children and sister) then his 2 stepdaughters. Since my step-mother died before my father, one of my step-sisters has named herself "executor" of his estate. Can you please give me some direction regarding contesting this will? And if his will is proven to be invalid will the state take it all, and not give anything to the family? How long do I have after his death to take action to legally contest his will?

 

[army judge]

A will can be contested as part of the probate process.

One of this type won't be easy.

Hire a lawyer, this isn't a DIY project.


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