Does a live-in boyfriend have rights to an estate

[mede]

I'm in Washington State.

Does a live-in boyfriend have any rights to property after a death? My mother died without a will in November and she was engaged to and living with her boyfriend at the time.

Recently, some of my mom's property has gone missing and it seems like the boyfriend may have taken it. My brother called the police to report it and the police told him that all of her property is his because they were engaged and living together. He said that is law in Washington State. Is there any truth to that? I'm skeptical that allowing someone to live in your house grants them rights to all of your property. When you get married, you have the right to make a separate property agreement (which my mother was intending to do.) Did my mother lose that right in death?

 

[LdiJ]

I'm in Washington State.

Does a live-in boyfriend have any rights to property after a death? My mother died without a will in November and she was engaged to and living with her boyfriend at the time.

Recently, some of my mom's property has gone missing and it seems like the boyfriend may have taken it. My brother called the police to report it and the police told him that all of her property is his because they were engaged and living together. He said that is law in Washington State. Is there any truth to that? I'm skeptical that allowing someone to live in your house grants them rights to all of your property. When you get married, you have the right to make a separate property agreement (which my mother was intending to do.) Did my mother lose that right in death?

Huh? I cannot imagine the police saying that...that is just weird. Is her boyfriend still living in the home?

 

[mede]

He is still living in the house.

 

[CdwJava]

Taking property from his own residence is, arguably, no crime at all. The family may have to try and prove that the property taken was solely the property of the deceased and subject to disbursement pursuant through probate. It might depend on the items and whether they were acquired while living together or not.

If the items are of significant value, the survivors might want to quickly engage the services of a probate attorney to advise them.

 

[mede]

It makes sense that it may be difficult in general to prove who owns what when people live together, but what I don't understand is the notion that living together changes the ownership of items that were hers for decades before she let him move in. It seems like a tremendous jackpot for this guy, who based on this logic, has a right to virtually everything that she owned. As her heirs, my brother and I have to go through this huge process to inherit anything. But because she let him stay with her he gains the right to walk off with anything he wants no questions asked?

 

[Ohiogal]

It makes sense that it may be difficult in general to prove who owns what when people live together, but what I don't understand is the notion that living together changes the ownership of items that were hers for decades before she let him move in. It seems like a tremendous jackpot for this guy, who based on this logic, has a right to virtually everything that she owned. As her heirs, my brother and I have to go through this huge process to inherit anything. But because she let him stay with her he gains the right to walk off with anything he wants no questions asked?

No. That is not what ANYONE is saying. Because your mother died without a will you should have opened probate to determine intestate succession of items. Have you done that? Have you gone to the probate court and attempted to do things the proper way? Living together doesn't change things. Because your mother however did NOT leave a will, that is where the problem is.

 

[CdwJava]

It makes sense that it may be difficult in general to prove who owns what when people live together, but what I don't understand is the notion that living together changes the ownership of items that were hers for decades before she let him move in. It seems like a tremendous jackpot for this guy, who based on this logic, has a right to virtually everything that she owned. As her heirs, my brother and I have to go through this huge process to inherit anything. But because she let him stay with her he gains the right to walk off with anything he wants no questions asked?

It's not quite that simple. But, if he says the couch and the TV are his or they bought them together, he's going to have a stronger case to make than you saying it's NOT his. This is why you should have immediately opened probate and why you need to speak with an attorney quickly - like TODAY - to find out what you an do and maybe seek some form of court order to prevent any more of the estate from being removed or disposed of until the court can take a look.

Absent a court order, the police are going to see this as a civil matter. They will not take sides and they will not stand around and listen to people arguing why the antique cuckoo clock is mom's and not her boyfriend's.

 

[mede]

That is what someone is saying; if nothing else, it is what the police are saying. And their definitely right in a sense. If he can take whatever he wants with impunity and we can't do anything about it, then effectively everything is his.


He should host an estate sale and clean the place out.

We have started the probate process, but that takes time.

 

[CdwJava]

Talk to an attorney about getting a court order to freeze the estate. Heck, we had that happen out here even when my mother-in-law passed away WITH a will! No one could sell or give away diddly until a judge made his decision.

If you are trying to do this yourself, yeah, he may well be able to sell or pawn anything in the house before anything can be done.

If you know where mom had any bank accounts, you might want to provide death certificates to those institutions to let them know that she has passed.

Question: How long had the boyfriend lived with her?

 

[mede]

Yeah, I'm definitly going to talk to my lawyer today. Thanks for the responses.

 

[Just Blue]

He is still living in the house.

You NEED to have a Probate Attorney Cnsult. NOW.

Good luck to you


Blue


And I'm very sorry for you loss...Blessings to you and all your family...

B