Father died, no will, stepmom took everything

[Concerned Daughter]

My parents were married for 30 years before my mother died. A few years before my father died he remarried. He did not have a pre-nup and did not leave a will. We were all with him when he died in his home (my sister and I, his only two children, both live out of his state). As soon as he had died, the new wife kicked my sister and me out of the house. We later left her messages to discuss the disposition of the property, but she has not responded and has now disconnected the home phone and cell phone. Question: what right, if any, do we, the adult children, have to the personal property (e.g., furniture, family pictures) that was owned by my parents prior to the second marriage? Has anyone had a similar experience? If this requires a lawsuit, does anyone have any thoughts on how expensive it will be? The handful items we are interested in are not necessarily of a high dollar value, but carry a lot of sentimental value. We have offered in writing to pay for value of the items, but she has not responded. Help!

[mischastar]

I am no legal expert but unfortunately it sounds like you do have a court battle on your hands. If your father died with no will, then the state decides how the estate is divided up and from my reading I have found that this tends to be divided between the children solely or as well as the wife. It seems uncommon for the wife to take everything.

Unfortunately the reason you are so concerned is because the items have sentimental value and therefore you may end up spending a lot of money to recover things of little monetary value.

You should ideally get into contact with a legal advisor who specialises in divorce as the worst outcome would be that these items may get destroyed or lost if you leave it.

I am sorry I cannot be of more help and I wish you good luck. I understand how frustrating it must be not being able to get hold of things which are so valuable to you.