My father passed away last month very suddenly and I don't know if he had a will. My stepmother finalized the divorce right before he died. They had two children together who are still dependents (16 and 17 years old). I am his only other child, from his first marriage, and am 23. My father also has two grandchildren from me, who are 1 year old and 3 years old

Tomorrow my Uncle is going to see a lawyer with my stepmother and he will be representing my younger half brother and half sister in my father's estate. My stepmother is saying that any inheritance from the estate only goes to his dependent children, so I will not be included in the division of the estate. My Uncle is believing this but I am taking it with a grain of salt until I investigate it.

She had told me that he also had me on a life-insurance policy and she eluded to the fact that she was irritated that I wasn't removed because I am no longer a dependent.

My stepmother has a track-record of being twisted and sneaky with money, which I experienced growing-up. I want to be sure that she isn't trying to pull something now as well. Any input on the situation and advice on how to handle it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Talk to a lawyer immediatly! Their divorce should have divided assets etc. Life insurance that lists a direct beneficiary, the money goes to the beneficiary period! doesn't matter about who or whether they are minors or not. You can leave life insurance to anyone you choose. If their divorce settlement states what each party is entitle to that is what she is entitled to .A divorce is public record so you should be able to see what each of them was granted in their divorce. The step-mother would collect SS for any minor children that were your fathers until they are 18 and finished with high school. The biological children would inherit his estate first, then if no children are alive or never had any his parents if still alive and so on. Yoou can find out if he had a will and have every right to know, call the court house in the county in which he resided in because you may be his executor unless someone else was named. You should be the one in line for that if they were divorced!

I can certainly understand this is a frustrating situation for you. I suggest you contact an attorney to determine your legal options. You can find an attorney through the locator service on LawInfo’s home page at: http://www.lawinfo.com/.

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