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Dad died with no will, does Stepmom get everything?

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DaveSTL

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio, Geauga County

Dad died in June 2010 without a will in Ohio.

Remarried his 4th wife (Stepmom) in 1987, they were married until his death.

Dad had three kids from his 1st marriage and did not have any other kids. The 4th wife has two kids from previous marriage.

I am one of the three kids from his first marriage. There are sentimental items that I would like to have, but Stepmom has refused to talk.

House is worth 175 - 200k and I am sure his pension is at least 2500-3000k/month. Does his three kids from his first marriage entitled to anything? Stepmom is listed on the house with my Dad. Thanks in advance!
 


Antigone*

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio, Geauga County

Dad died in June 2010 without a will in Ohio.

Remarried his 4th wife (Stepmom) in 1987, they were married until his death.

Dad had three kids from his 1st marriage and did not have any other kids. The 4th wife has two kids from previous marriage.

I am one of the three kids from his first marriage. There are sentimental items that I would like to have, but Stepmom has refused to talk.

House is worth 175 - 200k and I am sure his pension is at least 2500-3000k/month. Does his three kids from his first marriage entitled to anything? Stepmom is listed on the house with my Dad. Thanks in advance!

Unless there is a will giving specific assets to the children, it all belongs to his wife. Do you believe that the children should be entitled to anything?
 

DaveSTL

Junior Member
so you are an Ohio probate lawyer??

do you know the estate distribution laws for Ohio? I for one do not, that is why I am asking.:confused:
 

Antigone*

Senior Member
so you are an Ohio probate lawyer??

do you know the estate distribution laws for Ohio? I for one do not, that is why I am asking.:confused:
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curb1

Senior Member
No, wife is not necessarily entitled to everything. There is a good chance that pension has beneficiaries that might not include 4th wife. Check with the institution managing the pension.
 

Antigone*

Senior Member
No, wife is not necessarily entitled to everything. There is a good chance that pension has beneficiaries that might not include 4th wife. Check with the institution managing the pension.
I said it poorly, I referenced only a will. Curb thanks;)
 

anteater

Senior Member
Ohio Descent and Distribution:

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2105


Whether there is actually anything that the children stand to inherit is impossible to say. It depends upon how Dad and stepmom owned assets, beneficiary designations, etc.
 

DaveSTL

Junior Member
Thanks Curb...I left a vm with the head of human resources at the company my Dad worked at for almost 45 years.

I will reply back with any information.
 

DaveSTL

Junior Member
I believe C or D below apply, however I have to get a dictionary to understand a few words. :D

Is there a statute of limitations? It has been 1.5 years since my Dad's passing.

2105.06 Statute of descent and distribution.

(C) If there is a spouse and one child of the decedent or the child’s lineal descendants surviving and the surviving spouse is not the natural or adoptive parent of the decedent’s child, the first twenty thousand dollars plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate to the spouse and the remainder to the child or the child’s lineal descendants, per stirpes;

(D) If there is a spouse and more than one child or their lineal descendants surviving, the first sixty thousand dollars if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of one, but not all, of the children, or the first twenty thousand dollars if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of none of the children, plus one-third of the balance of the intestate estate to the spouse and the remainder to the children equally, or to the lineal descendants of any deceased child, per stirpes;
 

curb1

Senior Member
I am anticipating crystal clear guidance from anteater. Yes, let us know what the "company" has to say. The discouraging part is that no one from the company has contacted you about the pension. Do they know that your father has died?
 

anteater

Senior Member
I am anticipating crystal clear guidance from anteater.
Boy, curb, I sure got you fooled into thinking that I know what I'm talking about. :D

The OP can visit the old favorite calculator:

MyStateWill.com | Ohio Intestacy Calculator


The difficulty for the OP will be what, if any, assets are subject to the Descent and Distribution statute. I would say that it is a decent bet that the home was owned with right of survivorship. Maybe not, but the odds are that it was.

And "pension" is a vague term. If a defined benefit pension, it may have stopped when father died. Or, if there are survivor benefits, the surviving spouse may be the recipient.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
dave, anteater has said something a couple times and just in case you do not understand what she has addressed:

if the home was owned jointly with rights of survivorship, the wife would inherit the house in its entirety. If there were bank accounts owned jointly, they become the wife's. Many bank and investment accounts can be held jointly. If your father did this with his money, the wife would inherit it all regardless what the laws of intestate succession state.

I can't say I have seen many pensions that provide for the children of the pensioner. The wife; yes but not the children.

and of the sections of law applicable; since there is more than one child, it would be D:

(D) If there is a spouse and more than one child or their lineal descendants surviving, the first sixty thousand dollars if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of one, but not all, of the children, or the first twenty thousand dollars if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of none of the children, plus one-third of the balance of the intestate estate to the spouse and the remainder to the children equally, or to the lineal descendants of any deceased child, per stirpes;
 

TrustUser

Senior Member
boy, this is just one of many reasons why i like trusts so much.

of course no child is "entitled" to anything.

what one wants to accomplish is for the estate to be distributed in the way in which the owner desired.

when kids exist outside the current marriage, there is almost certain to have problems.

it certainly is not fair for the stepmom to give everything to her 2 kids, and ignore the 3 kids of the dad, based upon just her desires.

these things should have been addressed and agreed to, and put in writing, between the dad and stepmom.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio, Geauga County

Dad died in June 2010 without a will in Ohio.

Remarried his 4th wife (Stepmom) in 1987, they were married until his death.

Dad had three kids from his 1st marriage and did not have any other kids. The 4th wife has two kids from previous marriage.

I am one of the three kids from his first marriage. There are sentimental items that I would like to have, but Stepmom has refused to talk.

House is worth 175 - 200k and I am sure his pension is at least 2500-3000k/month. Does his three kids from his first marriage entitled to anything? Stepmom is listed on the house with my Dad. Thanks in advance!
If she is listed on the house then it passes to her outside of the estate, and is solely her property now, as are the contents of the house. It is unlikely that a pension would pass to anyone other than a surviving spouse, if the pension passes to anyone at all.

Life insurance and many other items pass directly to the beneficiaries outside of the estate. Any other joint assets between the husband and wife would pass outside of the estate.

Only assets in your father's name only, without named beneficiaries would belong to his estate and would be subject to the intestate rules. Since they were married for close to 25 years, odds are that there is little that wouldn't pass outside of his estate.
 

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