Q: What can I do? Is it too late ? How to file myself?are there contingency lawyers or pro bono lawyer for this kind case?
My dad died 2019 of lung cancer his ex wife remarried him 6months before he died with a mentally handicapped kid as witness after knowing he had lung cancer took new truck car whatever he had left and gave nothing to me or brother or grandkids I was too upset how things went down to deal w things she is getting his veterans ,retirement etc is it too late do I go to veterans court also ? Can I do something like this on my own ?is it still possible to do something? Do I need veterans court for his veterans checks?
A:
I'm sorry for the loss of your father. We lose our elderly Veterans population at a depressing rate.
I would bounce this question off of a family lawyer and maybe a probate lawyer in the jurisdiction where they were allegedly married and where he died.
There are so many moving parts to this question:
- Was this a valid marriage?
- Was the witness competent to be a witness to a marriage?
- If the marriage license is flawed, does the jurisdiction provide the respondent with a means to remedy?
- If the marriage can be declared invalid by statutory reasons, can marriage fraud be proven?
With regards to dealing with the VA.
If there were a legal basis, i.e. a court declares the marriage invalid, it MAY be possible to file a dispute with the Veteran's Benefits Administration.
Additionally it would likely be beneficial to contact the DVA's Office of the Inspector General to report the situation.
As to how their processes would work in this situation is difficult to predict with certainty. I believe it would be likely that this could go to a hearing before the Board of Veterans Appeals, possibly to the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. In the most extreme circumstance, if the case ultimately produced a Constitutional question which our jurisprudence has not addressed, it could be decided by the US Supreme Court.
I evaluate the chances of this question going to SCOTUS as mathematically insignificant, ergo 0%.
Now for the reality check. When she tells her side of the story, she's a grieving widow who lost the love of her life twice. From her perspective, she could spin the saddest story since Old Yeller for a judge and jury to hear.
This is probably not the answer you want to hear, but based upon these immediate factors, and with the understanding that there are other factors that were not evaluated, I cannot calculate any reasonable odds of success. This case would be very expensive to prove and emotionally draining.
With regards to pro bono, I can't think of any one I know personally who would do this pro bono. It would be advisable to shop around to find the best fit for your legal needs.
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