Dear Quentin, My mother and father had a rocky part of their marriage in their early 60s. They actually separated for about six months. My mother had some mental-health issues that caused the separation. My dad is nearly 72 and my mother passed away eight years ago.
My dad worked in a different town for a period of time. During that time, he had an affair with a much younger coworker. She got pregnant and had a baby boy. My mom and dad never said anything about this. She blamed herself for driving my dad away. Since my mom’s death my father has lived alone. He will disappear sometimes for a week at a time only saying that he is out of town visiting friends. My father has just been diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis is good, but he had a talk with all of my sisters about his estate.
“‘My two sisters were in a state of shock over the revelation.’”
My father just dropped a bombshell about the affair and the 9-year-old stepbrother we did not know about. My two sisters were in a state of shock over the revelation. I am 40 years old, and my two sisters are in their mid 30s. My folks helped us all out when we got married and as we started out in our careers. We are all financially secure. My father and mother put together a fairly large estate. He owns about $5 million to $6 million in real estate, has about $2.5 million in Roth IRAs, plus some CDs and a brokerage account. All told, he’s worth $10 million.
“‘Can the new stepbrother get 25% of m …