Am I entitled to my mothers share ! Our cousin died having left no will there is land a house and money my family are 3rd cousins they are n...

Question

Am I entitled to my mothers share ! Our cousin died having left no will there is land a house and money my family are 3rd cousins they are now the executor of estate there are 6 surviving children there were 7 my mother was killed when I was 2 my grandparents didn't adopt me so I'm a nephew of the surviving children and I'm the only child of my mother there sister my and they have distributed some money already but I was told that I would not get my mothers share my question is am I entitled to a percent of this money being I'm a surviving child of my mother or do I get nothing? Thank You

Answer

Where did your cousin live at the time of death? If North Carolina and your cousin died without a will, then the cousin's assets would pass to his/her surviving spouse, if any, and the cousin's biological/adopted children.

There is an anti-lapse statute which provides that a biological/adopted child can inherit the share of their deceased parent if the parent died before the testator. So you would have to show that your mother was a child of the cousin here. That does not seem likely and if that is the case, the cousin's children inherit, not you. If the cousin died without any spouse or children at all, then the cousin's assets would go to the cousin's parents. If the parents are dead, then to the cousin's siblings. If your mother was a sibling of the cousin, then you would take her share. If the siblings were all deceased, then children of the siblings would inherit. If none, then you would have to look to the consanguinity chart set forth in the statutes.

Your post does not really make sense as written. You need to speak with a probate attorney in the county/state where your cousin lived at the time of death to see who would be entitled to inherit the property. If you are not entitled to inherit as a class member then you generally are out of luck.

The fact that you were raised by your grandparents means nothing. If they adopted you, then you would be treated like a child of your grandparents for inheritance purposes. You indicate that no adoption occurred. Some states recognize "equitable adoption." You would have to meet with a probate attorney to determine if the state where the estate is pending recognizes equitable adoption (not all states do) and whether you meet the elements for that. Just raising you is probably not enough.