QUESTION
Who is appointed as the default guardian of a minor when there is no will?
Asked on Aug 26th, 2017 on Guardianship and Conservatorship - New York
More details to this question:
My girlfriend passed away and we have a son togeather. My girlfriend had another son who is over 18 and he was appointed as the default executor of the estate as the oldest living child. As such he is now in control of the home that my girlfriend and I renovated and he wants the home for himself. He has also shown a lot of signs that he is either incapable or too immature to make judgements regarding my self and my son. I don't understand why the probate court has not appointed a ad litem guardian for my son. Can I hire a lawyer to represent and protect my sons intersts in the estate? I have invested a lot of money into the house that my girlfriend, son and I lived in. Do I have any rights here? My deceased girlfriend's father is an estate artourney and I do trust him but I have also been kept out of the loop about what is going on. My girlfriends older son has been given all of the information.
1 ANSWER
Civil Rights Law Attorney serving Rockville Centre, NY
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Lori Nevias, Attorney at Law
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You or your son (if he's 14 or older) must petition the court to appoint a guardian ad litem. You can request a specific attorney or ask the court to choose. You can certainly hire a lawyer to make this filing. The fees of a guardian ad litem are a fraction of what an attorney would charge.
You have no interest in your late girlfriend's estate unless she left you a bequest in her will, assuming there is a will. And unless your name is on the deed to the house or your girlfriend signed a promissory note for repayment of the money you invested in it, you have no claim against her estate to recoup that money, nor any ownership rights to the house.
Answered on Aug 27th, 2017 at 2:23 PM