Q: As beneficiaries, do we have tights to my mother’s portion of my stepdads mesothelioma death lawsuit if she passes?
I know we have no rights to the lawsuit but we are her beneficiaries. Her health is troubling and I just want to know if we will keep her rights to the settlement if she passes. Ideally, we want her alive but I just am concerned. Worst thing is we were so close people thought he was my birth father.
Edited- I don’t ask my mother’s attorney directly because its not my attorney. She also wants the communication kept to a minimum with the attorney because they charge for every phone call. There’s more to all this but thank you for answering my question.
A: If I understand you correctly, your mother currently is the plaintiff in a wrongful death lawsuit arising from the death of your step-father, which has not yet settled, but you are expecting a settlement or recovery at some point in the future. I wonder why you didn't ask your question to your mother's attorney, but, in any event, when a plaintiff passes away while her lawsuit is pending (not yet resolved), the estate of the plaintiff may be substituted in for the plaintiff herself. The estate is first opened in the probate court, then gets substituted for the plaintiff in the pending suit. There are strict time limits for the substitution.
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