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Parent died in bicycle accident. Not married to mother so im next of kin. what are my rights when it comes to filing a law suit?

July 8, 2019

Question

My Fathers Brother is trying to file a claim before me. Am I protected as next of kin since im his only son.

Answer

I've handled many of these cases. Assuming there was no will (which is the most common situation), if there was no spouse, and you were the only child, you would receive everything recovered in a wrongful death suit. His brother may think he has a claim, but he doesn't, and no "race to the courthouse" is going to change that. BUT, where there is animosity between the next-of-kin, you need a lawyer to make sure the petition filed does not falsely state that there were no children. See this: https://www.nycourts.gov/courthelp/WhenSomeoneDies/intestacy.shtml

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