Q: Does the sudden and unexpected discovery of a full sibling impact any previously disbursed inheritances?
My father died in 1990 and my mother in 2014. She had a small estate ~ $100,000 which was shared equally among 4 siblings in 2020. Among my mother's possessions was found a "certificate of live birth" for a baby boy, with the father not named. I began an extended search soon after learning this, and I only got in touch with him yesterday. He provided a photo of his birth certificate, the content of which matched the "Certificate of Live Birth" I inherited. He only learned of his adoption after his adoptive parents died. He recently discovered that my sister's DNA and his was a 52% match, so he is a full sibling. To date, he has only communicated with me and I will share this discovery with my two remaining living siblings. I have no reason to believe he will have an interest in a part of the inheritance.
At this point in time, do my siblings and I have any legal obligation to share from the proceeds of my mother's estate, which have all been distributed after the estate closed?
A: So there are a lot of factors here to consider, and this is not legal advice specific to your situation. You would have to retain an attorney to get that. Generally speaking, when someone is adopted they no longer stand to inherit anything from their biological parents.
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