I found out when I was 48 yo or so that the man who raised me is not my bio dad. I also found out that I know who my bio dad is – my mother’s then boyfriend – I know, WTF. He and I get along very well, I’ve visited him several times, kept in touch, etc. Oh, and this man fathered 5 children who all know of the existence of the others.
Here’s the situation- he just died without a will, intestate, no Power of Attorney. One of the daughters has decided that she is in charge of handling the estate, handling of the body and so on. She and her sister were raised by the man, while the rest of us were not. Shouldn’t the estate go through probate to ensure all heirs are accounted for? And shouldn’t the estate be divided equally?
AND he was named the executor of his mother’s estate, she passed a couple of years ago and the accounts for her estate are still open and pending resolution – now what?
Location: CA
Comments
Is there any legal declaration of parentage? A birth certificate, a court order? Is someone else listed as the legal father on one of those documents?
You aren’t automatically entitled to inherit based on a DNA test.
Shouldn’t this all be handled by existing CA state law? Someone needs to talk to an estate attorney to make sure that yes, indeed, there is probate if there needs to be, that there’s a successor executor for his mother’s estate, etc.
No the sister cannot distribute the assets of the estate on her own. yes it must go through probate with the court supervising and ensuring all laws and rules are followed.
If probate is still open for his mother’s estate then the probate court handling that case will appoint a new executor. Probate of his mother’s estate does not get combined into probate of his estate, it remains a separate case.
Sadly an Ancestry.com DNA test is not enough. As mentioned it would take a court order to have you declared as one of his bio children at that point (and a more extensive DNA test than Ancestry does) and there is a chance the daughters would fight any attempt.
Not familiar with CA, but here in Iowa when our father passed intestate, my brother had to sign a document declining to be administrator (agreeing to me being it). I’m assuming if he refused that the court would have to choose the estate administrator. Your legally uncertain parentage is I’m sure another wrinkle.