TAS Father's Stepchildren Contesting a Will - Getting Our Fair Share?

[Tony Barker]

My father passed away recently. I`m one of four siblings to his first marriage. His second wife passed away 5 years ago. After they were married, she sold a property and invested money with my father. Her will leaves the estate to my father. In his will, he leaves the entire deceased estate to his 4 children from the first marriage. The two stepchildren are contesting a will, which I don`t think is unfair, but they are asking for 50% of the estate which includes the sale of his family home.

I feel the estate should be divided into 6 parts and shared. They have engaged a lawyer and have informed us of their intentions. I was more than happy to try and come to a mutual deal but I feel that they are being unreasonable. We don't really want a costly legal battle as the estate is not a great amount, approximately $250 000.

How should we go about getting what we feel is our fair share?

 

[Sophea]

There's no easy way. It's negotiation or court battles, and when one side is unwilling to budge the only way of mitigating a court battle is accepting a lower amount. The money either goes to them or your lawyers.

Make sure you have got a good lawyer who can at least push back as hard as what they are pushing and they might come down a bit. What a court will determine depends on a multitude of factors including their personal and financial circumstances so it's impossible to say whether they will be successful in their claim for 50%