Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Contesting a will

I am the only child of a man who will probably exclude me from his will when he passes on. He does not deny parentage, we are estranged by my choice. How can I find out when he passes? Do I have any legal right to his estate? Does his wife - not my mother - have more legal rights than I do? How do I go about contesting the will (He is in California) if I were to find that he has passed on, and indeed excluded me? Is there a statute of limitations when it comes to contesting a will? Does past harm make a difference to the court when deciding these matters? Please advise.


Asked on 11/26/02, 1:17 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Martin Lathrop Russakow, Ryan & Johnson

Re: Contesting a will

Your father can give his possesions anywhere he likes. You may have grounds to contest his will if you find he is the victim of fraud or undue influence.

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Answered on 11/26/02, 12:37 pm
Chris Johnson Christopher B. Johnson, Attorney at Law

Re: Contesting a will

California lets a person leave his separate property and half of his community property to anyone he chooses, so contesting a will would be difficult--you'd have to show he was unduly influenced, incompetent, or operating under some kind of delusion when he made the will. Basically, did he not really mean what he said in the will, or did he not know what he was putting in the will?

If he does not make a will, you have the right to inherit 1/3 of his separate property--his spouse inherits the rest of his separate property and all of his community property.

As for timelines for contesting the will, you can normally do so up to the time it's admitted to probate, and after that up to four months from the time it's admitted. In this case, though, you haven't provided any facts that would make for a successful will contest--you could be successful if you're not named at all in the will (even for disinheritance purposes), and could argue he would've included you had he remembered you.

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Answered on 11/26/02, 2:01 am


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