QUESTION
Will my mom be able to inherit her stepfather's estate?
Asked on Apr 30th, 2016 on Estate Planning - California
More details to this question:
In California, my grandfather married my grandmother and raised her children as his own from the time they were small children to adulthood. This was the 1950's to the present. He never adopted her children. They moved to Alabama and died with no will. - Grandpa died last. The estate is in probate. The law in Alabama is that stepchildren don't have rights to the estate, In California, they would have. Does the CA law supersede the AL law? Will my mother be able to fight for ownership of the house, cars and money?
1 ANSWER
Estate Litigation Attorney serving Redlands, CA
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1. California law does not provide for intestate succession for step-children that are not adopted, unless they couldn't adopt due to a legal barrier (a parent wouldn't give up parental rights). But that legal barrier goes away when the step-children are over 18 years old.
2. The law of the state where the decedent lived when he died contols. So Alabama law would apply to this estate, not California law. You should ask this question again under Alabama law.
Answered on Apr 30th, 2016 at 10:55 AM