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Brother dies, no will

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D

davmar92

Guest
What is the name of your state? Florida

My wifes brother passsed away recently (May). He was just married in February. He had just started living with her and maintained his own new home which he was in the process of selling.There was no will and his wife sold his car, stopped the sale of the home and changed the name on the house to her name even though both the house and car were in his name only. She did this once she received the death certificates. My inlaws and wife feel that she should not have been able to sell either properties. Can they or are they intitled to benefit from the sale of the properties
 


Dandy Don

Senior Member
Probate law in Florida protects the surviving spouse--the personal and real property is presumed to be owned by the wife in the event of the husband's death, so she was entitled to do as she wished. You would probably do the same if you were in her position, no longer having a husband to depend on for income.

However, the only thing to be concerned about is whether they had children. The children are entitled to a share of this estate if there are any financial assets to speak of--wife gets the first $20,000 of the value of the estate and then 1/2 of the balance goes to her, the other half goes to the children, but they may need to get their own attorney to file a claim if the wife has not opened this estate for probate.

DANDY DON
 

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