If my father left a multi-million dollar estate, why did I only get $500 if I am his oldest daughter?
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If my father left a multi-million dollar estate, why did I only get $500 if I am his oldest daughter?
My father died last month. he left me when I was young, mover to another state and never looked back. The home he lived in is worth 31M. He left my half-sister with other properties worth millions. I feel that I am entitled to a third of his monies.
Asked on May 22, 2016 under Estate Planning, Florida
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
With such an extensive estate, I'm assuming that your father had a Will. And the fact is that a parent may disinherit a child. Typically, so to prevent a later claim that a child was inadvertently omitted from a Will, a token sum is left to the child in question. This is most likely why you inherited the $500. Accordingly, unless you can prove that your fatherr was mentally incapacited at the time that he made his Will, was under undue influence to disinherit you (which you essentially were) or the like, you cannot contest its validity. That having been said, in the unlikley event that your father died "intestate", that is without a Will, then as his child you would be your father's heir, in which case you would have inheritance rights.
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