Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

will contest

A cousin of my mom's past away and his closest living blood relative is my mom, his only living first cousin. My mom moved away from their home state because of her arthritis We think because this cousin had dementia and Alzheimer's when he wrote the will in 2003, that he forgot about her. A genealogical search company call us because they were looking for living first cousins --and found my mom. This cousin's estate is in a testamentary trust , is left to a 90 year old sister-in-law for her to live off the interest--then when she dies the trust is dissolved and the remaining money is left in 1000 shares to be distributed among second cousins and some first cousins once removed on this cousins mom's side of the family. All the first cousins on this cousin's dad's side of the family were dead by about 1981, except for my mom. Is there any way my mom--this fellows only living first cousin can share in a portion of this inheritance--it says in the will that the trustee/attorney can do just about anything with the trust . Should we ask him or the judge if she has to appear in court?


Asked on 7/04/08, 9:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Walter LeVine Walter D. LeVine, Esq.

Re: will contest

You have an uphillbattloe, but not an impossible one. You can contest the Will under several theories: Forgotten heir, incapacity of Will maker, undue influence, etc. Your difficulty is that anyone can leave their estate to whomever one wishes, as long as they do disinheirit cerain protected people like a spouse. There is no legal requirement that the only living first cousin must inherit. Thus, you need a basis to interject your Mom, some of which are specified above. Forgotten heir mkay not include your Mom, as it is usually limited to afterborn children and/oir grandchildren. In any case, if you wish to do this, you must act quickly, as there is a limited time period after the Will is probated to start contests. I suggest having a NY attorney familiar with estates assisy you.

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Answered on 7/06/08, 10:35 pm


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