old will

My father had a will drawn up in 1977 in Kentucky when he and my mother were still married. Since then he has remarried and has had other children. He lived in the state of Kansas when he died in 1997. My stepmother has told us that my father did not have a will and has refused to allow my sister and I to obtain any of his possessions that were before her time with him. I understand that my mother has no rights to his property because of the divorce but what of my sisters and my rights?
Thank you.

You, as children, are among his heirs at law, as is his wife. In SOME states a Will is not invalidated when a person remarries -- only the old spouse is deleted, and the new one has hiis or her right of statutory election.

As I have no idea as to the nature and size of his estate, or how the property he owned was titled, it is hard for me to comment on your rights.

Typically, if there is no Will, the estate is divided up between the spouse and kids -- often the first $X goes to the spouse. It is all set out in the laws of intestate distribution in his state. You as heirs could seek to become the executor of the estate.

I's seek a lawyer in the state in which your father lived.