Q: Adult sister being left out of inheritance due to "foster" daughter status, deceased-Mom had legal guardianship of her?
She has been told that she has No standing as a daughter/beneficiary due to her not having been adopted by our mother... I am no lawyer, but my own research found 1993, Ch. 529, Sec. 5. as a possible effort to remedy such relationship situations? Prob Code Chapter 2 6454?
(a) (b) legal barrier"??
A:
You are correct that in some instances under probate code §6454 a person in these circumstances may be able to establish a right to inherit. An estate/probate lawyer would need to be retained to examine the situation and make a claim if the facts exist to establish the pc§6454 factors of (a) and (b). The estate/probate lawyer would then make a demand on the persons administering the estate and if necessary file a court petition (lawsuit) to have a judge ultimately decide if the §6454 applied to the situation.
These are not black and white situations. If there was no will then it may be easier to establish the §6454 factors. If there is a will, depending upon what the will says, then there may not be as good a chance. Depending upon how much of an estate is involved and depending upon the adult sister's resources to hire and attorney, I would suggest at least having an attorney make a written demand.
A lawyer also needs to immediately look at the overall situation and make a determination of the time deadlines to make demands and file court proceedings. If you wait beyond the legal deadline then the claim would be lost.
David L. Crockett, attorney/CPA/Broker/Martindale Hubble AV preeminent rating.
Bill Sweeney agrees with this answer
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