Inheritance Win for Minor Child Left Out of Will

Robinson & Henry’s knowledgeable attorneys give their professional insight in “From Our Perspective” where we take a closer look at successful outcomes achieved by our attorneys. We’ll also share our legal expertise on other cases and legal issues in Colorado.

What should have been a straightforward family law case turned into a complex legal dispute that crossed into probate law. Since Robinson & Henry is a full-service law firm with a Probate Team, our client had the resources she needed in one place. In this “From Our Perspective” episode, Probate Partner Elizabeth German discusses how she helped a mother protect her home and secure funds for her child’s future after the unexpected death of her ex-spouse. 

This complicated case involved outdated wills, unpaid child support, and family disputes that spanned generations.

Past results afford no guarantee of future results; each matter is different and must be judged on its own merits. Facts are those of an actual Robinson & Henry probate case. 

A Family Law Issue Turns into Probate

Our client, a divorced mom, initially sought our Family Law Team’s help to collect some overdue child support. She received a judgment for the past-due support, but before any payment could be made, the ex-spouse passed away. What had been a simple debt collection became a complex probate issue, requiring careful navigation through both family law and probate law.

Liz and her probate team stepped in to ensure the mother’s and young daughter’s rights were protected. With the help of Robinson & Henry’s family law attorneys, Liz initiated a legal process to collect the unpaid support and secure the deceased father’s estate for the child.

Overcoming Communication Barriers

One of the most challenging aspects of this case was the lack of transparency and communication from the ex-spouse's family. Our client was not notified about her ex-spouse’s death for nearly two months. His relatives also were hesitant to disclose all of his assets, including cars and a house.

Collaboration between departments is a game-changer in complex legal matters like this one. Despite our client’s legal teams being in different departments and locations, R&H’s collaborative environment allowed us to handle the case seamlessly. This teamwork reduced our client’s stress and sped up the legal process, allowing for quicker resolutions.

Making a Case for the Client

Navigating probate law takes careful planning, and Liz knew exactly how to handle it. In this case, she used two key strategies to give her client the strongest chance of success. 

First, Liz filed for probate under creditor status because the deceased father owed our client money for past-due child support. Second, she leveraged her client’s status as the sole guardian of the deceased’s only child, strengthening the legal argument that our client should manage her late ex-husband’s estate.

Resolution and Securing the Child’s Future

Securing the estate for our client’s child had its challenges. The deceased’s relatives introduced an outdated will, insisting they were the rightful beneficiaries. However, Liz’s team used a legal provision to prove that the daughter, who was not born at the time the old will was created, deserved her share of the inheritance.

The case ultimately concluded with a fair settlement. Our client maintained control over the estate with the stipulation that a trust be created for the minor child. Our estate planning department established a trust that will protect the child’s inheritance and ensure that her future needs are met.

Read this video’s full transcript:

Question: Liz, thank you so much for joining me today. Tell me more about our client and why she needed your help.

Liz: Our client initially actually came to us as a family law consultation, and they were tasked with helping her collect on some passed due child support. They effectuated a judgment but unfortunately, before our client could be paid out, the person who owed that money to her passed away, which implicates the inability to transfer funds without proper court procedures.

Because we have a probate department, we were able to be given that information from our family law attorneys to be able to help her initiate a probate proceeding to be able to collect that money. That was one issue. The other issue was the client really needed to ensure that her minor daughter, who should have been the sole beneficiary of her late father's estate, was able to collect that money.

There was a concern with family members causing issues with not providing assets or disclosures. We were able to be given that case and then help her effectuate both goals of both the collection of those monies owed to her and protection of assets for her daughter. 

Question: As you mentioned, our client also worked with our family law attorneys. How were you able to collaborate with our family law team in this situation? 

Liz: The interesting thing about that is they weren't even in the same office location, but we have a collaborative community where we can pick up the phone, send emails, all of our databases match where they could just send us information. 

We could look at it and then address the needs of what they needed help with without actually ever having to meet, which caused the client to not have as much time and energy spent with having to schedule multiple appointments.

We were able to within a few days of them presenting the problem to us, meet with the client and establish what needed to be done to help her in the probate. 

Question: What were some of the challenges our client faced by the ex-spouse’s parents in this situation? 

Liz: There were things like cars, there was actually a home that was going to need to be given to the proper heirs. They unfortunately believed they were the proper heirs, so they weren't providing any information to our client. They unfortunately didn't even notify our client to allow her daughter to know that the father had passed for almost two months. There was a lot of lack of communication, non-transparency, which obviously caused our client concern that her daughter’s rights weren't going to be protected.

Question: What was the best strategy to make sure our client received the maintenance and the child support that she needed?

Liz: We had a couple of different legal strategies. Initially, we believed that we could open a probate because nobody else had up to that point for the client as a creditor. There's limited ways in which to open a probate. You have to have certain statutory standing. 

And unfortunately, as an ex-spouse, she didn't possess that, but she did because she was owed that money as a creditor and no one else had filed. Throughout the process, we actually came across another legal argument to bolster her case to be appointed in the fact that she was the sole guardian of the only heir of the estate.

She kind of had a couple of different legal arguments that we could use to ensure that she had the strongest position to be appointed, to be in charge of the estate, to both collect her own money and then again make sure her daughter got hers as well. 

Question: Ultimately, what was the outcome of this case? 

Liz: The initial petition that we filed was competed with by the other family members, who purported to bring a will into the equation, arguing that they should have been the beneficiaries.

We were able to argue a law that says if a child is not contemplated at the time a will is entered into or otherwise provided for, called the “after-born child statute,” that they then get what estate there would be under the law if that person didn't have a will. 

We were able to negotiate a nice resolution where our client maintained control. We actually still accepted some of the conditions from the other side to ensure that the money was being managed, because that was a concern they had, obviously, being an ex-spouse, that the child's interests were being protected. 

We were able to actually pull in another area of our team, the estate planning, and set up a minor trust. Ultimately our client got her money by being appointed. Her child got her inheritance, and it's set up in a protected way that ensures her daughter's future needs are going to be met. 

Question: What advice do you have for someone who is dealing with a complex situation like this, involving both an estate and family law issues?

Liz: Talk to a licensed professional. There are always nuances to every case. Trying to do it on your own when you have a lot of those issues, especially with family, tends to get murky. Removing yourself from that stressful situation and letting someone else step into the shoes of being able to be your advocate is always great. We offer consultations where we can give guidance to get you on the path to the legal help that anyone will need.