Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Re: can a will be voided an a new will replace it

When a second will is created the intent is for it to replace a prior will - most (good) wills even include express language to the effect that the testator is revoking all prior wills and/or codicils (amendments to existing wills) - so generally speaking, the old will is no longer valid because it has been revoked and replaced with the new one. Between your father's will and step mother's will you are talking about apples and oranges - if your father's will passed everything to step mom, then it became her property to do what she wanted with, including disposition at her death. She may well have decided to pass it to her blood relatives rather than step children (unfortunately, this is very common in blended family situations). Wills are public documents once they are filed with a court for probate, but state law varies on this. If this is a PA will for a PA resident who died in PA, then you will need to hire a lawyer in PA to help you. If the will was filed (usually in the county where the deceased person lived), then you may be able to obtain a copy and learn what it provided for. If the will was being probated, you most likely were not included as an "heir" who would be entitled to notice of all the probate proceedings because you are a step child - a relationship that ended when your father died. You really have no rights to your step mother's estate. This type of problem may have been avoided if your father's estate plan would have utilized something other than just a will that passed his assets to step mom (like a trust for the children), but that may have been what your father intended. I don't think you have a lot to work with here, but it can't hurt to retain a PA lawyer to at least explore your options.