no will, lived with partner of 10 yrs.

What is the name of your state? Maine

My father recently died. He had a will made but because he got so sick he couldnt sign it , it is unavailable and considered completely irrelevant to anything. He lived with a woman for 10 years and his personal belongings are all over her house and he allowed her to use his ATM card to his own personal bank account and she has a key to his PO box. Maine has no commonlaw laws.
My brother and I have an attorney who is handling this probate situation (VERY expensive!) and we have been told that until we are named as the executors, we can do nothing about stopping her from taking money from his account or continuing to remove his mail from his own personal PO box.
The woman he lived with (and this has not been the first one) of course thinks of herself as a wife to him and has told us that he only had a few items of his own to list in the asset list and that he has no money. When asked about stocks, insurance etc, she said that he has stocks and that she is the beneficiary. She says he had life insurance but cancelled it (she knows this because he told her so), She would not give us the name of his bank , insurance company, stock companies, or any financial information whatsoever
Because the way our father lived his life, we have the need to find out the facts of the stocks , the beneficiary, any life insurance (did he really cancel it), and how many bank accounts does he really have. (During one of his divorces, a few private accounts were found out that his actual wife was completely unaware of)
It is not that we are trying to harm the woman that loved him, but we need to find all facts regarding his business so that it can be listed in the inventory for the probate courts and if he has monies of his own, it needs to go to pay for expenses rather than to the family of the woman he lives with.
What do you advise?
Thank you so much.

Ask your attorney if anyone has filed to open up probate proceedings at the county courthouse (or better yet, call or visit the courthouse to find out that information for yourself). If no one has filed to open up probate, you can do so (or your attorney), which will give you power as personal representative of the estate (similar to executor, except the term executor is used only when there is a will--since there is no will here, you will be personal representative of an intestate estate). As soon as you get authority to be PR you will receive a document called letters testamentary which authorizes you to inquire at the bank to see how the accounts were set up and authority to check on other assets.

If partner or her attorney has already opened up probate, you may not be able to do much but sit back and wait to see how the proceedings transpire. Your attorney also needs to inquire to see if this partner had power of attorney.

Problem here is that if he set his partner up as joint account owner on the bank account it became hers when his death occurred, but your attorney should be able to advise you about whether it would be wise to have a financial background check done on your father (m,ay cost about $1,000 or more through a private investigator). PR also has authority to order copies of state and federal tax returns filed for previous years which will have clues about some of his assets.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])