A man's father left everything to his stepmother through a revocable trust, which she can now change or empty entirely. An irrevocable trust could have given her lifetime income while guaranteeing the children inherit what's left after she dies. Contesting requires proving fraud, which is hard.
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My dad died and left everything to my stepmother in a revocable trust. And now that he's gone, she's changed everything about the trust, cut us out, and is leaving everything to her kids. What can we do to make sure we get what my dad intended for us to have? Unfortunately, not much. When everything is left to a surviving spouse in a revocable trust, the surviving spouse can change that trust in any way they want, including cutting you and your siblings out of the trust completely. Go to my Linktree and you can learn more by working with me or by getting my newsletter. I don't know what was explained to your dad, but he could have left half of the estate in an irrevocable trust that would have protected that share for his children. The surviving spouse could have received income from this trust for life, but at her death, everything in that irrevocable trust could have gone to you and your siblings. Having said all that, if you think there was fraud somehow involved in the creation of his trust, you can get a lawyer to challenge the trust, but you have to have good proof
