Can you contest a will if the real father remarried and devided property to his second spouses children and his real children. I must tell you that the two other kids in this will is no blood relation what so ever only step children to the father.
Okay first of all he treated his real kids like crap! throwed them to his mom (their grandmother) to raise and took over the second marriage as his real family....SO Dont Judge me...Second they have had issues with splitting up and her cheating many many times on him...A REAL FATHER would never so that to his Biological children. He chose his family to be step kids and second spouse. So yeah We are planning to contest it! ANd the Kids are all Adults just to let you all know....
Are you the mother of the "real" children?
You know, a person can divide their estate in any manner they choose. It seems as though this man considered all the kids HIS kids.
If people can leave millions of dollars to an animal, I don't see what grounds you would have to contest a will dividing things among children, blood relation or not.
Coming from a blended family (for several generations), I'd say that contesting such a thing could destroy the entire family. Why put that animosity on a bunch of innocent kids? Particularly ones who have apparently lost their father and stepfather!
You can contest anything. It doesn't mean the ruling will be to your favor and you might end up disappointed.
gl
Is it really worth it???
My father is doing the same, dividing his estate between his 7 bio children plus 2 more step children.
I decided early on in life not to let my parents last will and testaments ever change my own plans and attitude. There are those siblings who feel entitled to these assets and there are those who make their own life. We make our own happiness and way in this world. And no, I don't believe you can contest it. I have an old friend who has spent countless hours trying to do this and our own relationship has been lost over it b/c I no longer want to sit and listen to her rave on and on about the unfairness, blah, blah, blah. She became obsessed with this issue. There are many families I have met throughout my life who have taken this path and honestly, I have never seen any good come from it.
We come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing.
I think ultimately if the person who passed was of sound mind, and this wasn't a "deathbed" change to the will it will be honored. Can someone contest it wasting tons of money with lawyers reducing the amount that is ultimately disbursed and cause of delay? Yes and it would hurt everyone involved. As long as the assets are being managed or overseen, someone is charging a fee to do that. I'd say honor the will, do anything to expediate things so everyone gets what was intended and the most without a lot of expense taken out.
A person writing a will can choose to give all of their worldly possessions to their cat if they so choose. That's the point of a Last Will & Testament: YOU get to decide who your stuff goes to.
first of all, if this was your father I am so sorry for your loss. Truly, honestly sorry.
secondly, unless you suspect (and have PROOF) he wrote the Will under psychotic or medicated or forced state, then no... you cannot and SHOULD NOT contest this Will.
If this man wrote his Will with good intentions and a good mind, then this is what HE wanted, and it would only hurt him if he knew his bio children were acting greedy and selfish after his passing to prevent other children whom he may have considered "like" his own, or it's possible and likely he loved his step children and like his wife, felt an honorable duty to them. And that is his WISH. So let the man have his wish.
My uncle recently passed away and something similar is happening amongst his children and his 3rd wife (who was an ANGEL caring for him during his last years with alzheimers), and I just know my uncle would be turning in his grave to see his children acting this way over MONEY.
I would not contest a WILL.
I'm sure he made his WILL the way he wanted it to be.
I am sorry for your loss.
B.:
I'm not a lawyer. If your ex-husband died and left money to the children you had together as well as his new children - what's there to contest? Just because the other two children were NOT blood - does not mean he loved them any less or differently.
I would contact a lawyer to see what is at your disposal.
But really? I realize you may trying to protect and provide for YOUR children - since I don't know how old the kids are - how long he was married to you vs the new wife, etc.....the point is - if you remarried and your new spouse had kids from a previous marriage - are you going to leave them out of your will just because they are not your biological children?
Your ex is entitled to set up his will however he sees fit. As long as he's also accommodating the children you have together I don't see what business it is of yours. He sounds like a good man for planning ahead for his newer wife's children.
http://wills-probate.lawyers.com/wills-probate/Grounds-fo...
You might also want to search here (laws can vary from state to state):
family estates are a pain in the......
My father left his lake home to his 2nd wife, split equally into 1/3s with my sis & me. Sucks, totally sucks. She lives there full-time, & we foot 2/3 of the bills. We do not have the freedom to use the home as we please. We do not have a relationship any longer with her. After 18 months, she confessed to us that she has been lying to us about the estate's finances & has spent all of the $$. OMG! Now we are trying to decide legally how far we want to take restitution.....& yes, the property will be placed on the market as soon as we finish moving out our heirlooms.
It is an absolutely insane situation....which could have been avoided with proper estate planning. I wish you luck.....estates can be costly & soul-sapping.
If it wasn't in the support agreement or divorce agreement that the bio children would be the only beneficiaries, I don't think there's much you can do. If the children are minors, you can consult your divorce attorney to see what's required/possible.
If your ex is reasonably young, I find it curious that you even know what's in his will. It's not clear from your post whether he has died, or whether you have just been informed of what's in the will in case he dies in the future. Did he or his current wife tell you just to hurt you? Did he inform the minor children of this? If he involved the kids, that's pretty inappropriate.
You can contest it, but unless you have hard evidence that the will was signed under duress or he was incompetent at the time of the will signing, than you really don't have legal grounds. A person can will anything they have to anyone they one, blood relative or not.
So, who exactly is the "real father", in your situation? Your dad, an ex? And what would the reasoning be behind contesting it? That some of the kids aren't biological?
And, really... "only" stepchildren? Do you have any idea how cold & insulting that statement his? He obviously had enough love in his heart for all the children.
At the end of the day, someone is dead, & it's only money, only material items. Are you really willing to cause unnecessary drama & issues over that?
As someone else mentioned, you can contest anything you want but you better have good grounds to do so. Outside of a life insurance stipulation in a divorce case, a person is free to give their assets to whomever he or she chooses. My husband's aunt (who was predeceased by my MIL and their parents) was so bitter towards my DH & BIL (who had legitimate complaints about the execution of their grandparents' estate) that she bought "the boys" our of their share in the family home, ran it into the ground and left everything she had left to the Audubon society and a neighbor. All of their mother's family heirlooms (jewelry, china, photos) were left to strangers and they had no means to contest it. So contest away, but it probably won't do anything except alienate you from family and make a lousy situation even worse. The living (again, other than minor children whose care is stipulated to in legal documents) are NEVER entitled to anything that their deceased family members leave behind.
