Q: Step father left his pension to my mother upon his death. She passed in 2017 and the pension hasn't been claimed.
His children don't want anything to do with the funds since they would have to pay for a succession. He raised me for 15 years and contributed to my care as well as I did his later on. Is there anything I could do to rightfully claim this property? I have notified all heirs and none want to pursue the matter by I feel his bills, funeral cost,hospital bills and so forth should be paid out of this. What can I do as a step child ie. Child of the deceased?
A: Contact his pension administrator.
A: The pension would now be now part of your mother's estate if she survived your step-father. If there is a will then the will would control who gets the pension monies. If not, then the laws of intestacy of the state where your mom died would control. You could have the estate probated and if there is a will the executor named therein would serve. If there is no will then you may be able to be named administrator. You should really sit down with an estates attorney to discuss your options based on a full discussion of the facts and the family members and their rights under the will and intestacy.
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