Has anyone been involved in probate? As a step child? Never LEGALLY adopted?

Question

My father passed away and had a sudden death. He has one sister and she is saying that if I fight her for his home, my home at one time, she will win becuase she is the next of kin. He left me his insurance policies, which I had no idea of, she wants the house to make profit but I want the house to keep, I might sell mine and move in. I grew up in it. I spoke to a lawyer and he says that the only way I can win is if I have my Biological father and my mother give testimony saying that my Biological father warned my dad that if he tried to adopt me, he would put up a fight. Which is what really happened. If I can prove that, underCalifornia Probate law, that would win me the home. I have to give the lawyer 5,000.00 as a deposit. Has anyone been thru this? Any advice? Is it worth it or is it a hassle? I dont wany troble or more heartache

No will, that I know of I tried looking but no luck, My mom and him were married for 12 years, I met him when I was 4 years old. After they divorced, we acted like nothing. Same dad, same me. The home is worth 350K and the mortgage is about 200K
I love in California

Opps, I mean to say I live, not love, but that too, in California. My dad has no major liens, I refinanced his home last year

Answer 1

Would need more info. Was there a Will? Is your mother living? If so, was she married to the step-father at the time of death? If not, how long were they married and how long was he considered your father? How much is the home worth? Is there a mortgage? If so, how much?

If your mother is living and she was legally married to your step-father, she would be the next of kin. If they were divorced she may not be, but may still have standing if there was any unfinished business between them.

If he was your father-in-fact, like your attorney already advised you, you need to submit proof of that; the step-father leaving you life insurance policy proceeds would be strong evidence of that.

Without knowing further details, only thing for sure to recommend would be having a title search done on the property to ensure there what, if any liens were against it as compared to the fair market value (realtors can give you the FMV based on comparable analysis or comparable homes sold in the same neighborhood for free, but the catch is they will want you to list the property with them, or the property you currently own if you decide to dispose of it, in order to provide their services free...some will do it for a fee of $75-$200 depending on the realtor). At least these items would give you the basis to decide if the property is worth pursuing.

I had to pursue a claim against my intestate grandmother's estate with free and clear real estate. We ended up working out an arrangement where the grandsibling that wanted the property had to buy out the rest of us for our 1/6th share in the property. The attorney took the case on a contigency basis of 33% and that was he fee and expenses.