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Deceased's Belongings - Ownership?

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What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

My mother died in December, and her third husband has been sitting on her belongings, doing absolutely nothing with them, in their house in Arizona for the last 5 months.

Unfortunately my mother left me her IRA and he and his family have been verbally abusive to me via email for the last 5 months as well. He doesn't comprehend that he is a third husband, and I am her only son, and its reasonable that she leave her money to her son.

As a result, I have become increasingly uncomfortable leaving literally everything of hers in his posession. He has the power to throw things out that he knows will be meaningful to me, and that makes me extremely frustrated. There are very important and sentimental things in that house like my original parents wedding certificate, her wedding dress, and other things that he knows I would want. I don't feel comfortable letting this antagonistic person with a grudge, who obviously could simply throw away things on a whim ... having complete posession of her belongings, while I am at the mercy of what he decides to give to me.

He only happened upon the scene (in her life) 9 years ago, at age 60. He's a newcomer to the entire family, but he has some issues with feeling that he is the only thing that mattered in her life. At her funeral, which I had to singlehandedly write because he was feeling too sorry for himself to care about giving her a proper memorial, he red-marked out all my writing on her life before him. I was not allowed to mention my father, where I came from, nor 90% of her life before him. He isn't an evil guy.

Just unbelievably misdirected in his understanding of his role in her life. Even when putting together the words for her headstone, which is supposed to be about her, and who she is ... he wrote "MY DARLING, MY WIFE, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE" across the front of it. Now every time I go there, I get to think about him, instead of her.

Its now nearly 6 months since my mom died and I haven't seen a single item of hers that should have gone to me. He keeps telling everyone he's "not ready" to go through her stuff, and he has told me I am "not welcome" in the house.

Do I have any legal recourse for getting a warrant or something to go in there, as my mothers son, and secure her belongings, load up a uhaul, and leave? I trust myself to give him what she would want him to have far more than I trust him to do the same for me at this point.

I just feel like her only blood relative should have some say.
 


justalayman

Senior Member
is there a will? How were you given the IRA? (beneficiary, via will, ??)

You also need to realize that Arizona is a community property state which changes what is actually part of your mothers estate. Many, items will most likely become the property of her husband at the time due to the community property situation.

In a community property state, whatever you bring into the marriage or receive individually through gifts or inheritances remains yours, but whatever you earn or acquire during the marriage is co-owned by both parties, regardless of who earned it or whose name is on the title. Of course, if you commingle gift or inheritance cash with a joint account, it very likely will be considered community property by a court.

and what action can you take to settle the estate:

you can open probate
 
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There was no will. There is no Estate.

There was nothing in writing for anyone. They didn't do anything to identify ownership of any kind.

So this would be subject to the state laws.

(The IRA is a separate unrelated issue, but to answer your question, I got it because she'd placed me on the beneficiary designation form)

So in a community property state like Arizona, where 90% of the things he is going through are from prior to their marriage, do I have the right to go into that house, unwelcome, and secure those items? By unwelcome I mean with approval from the court, but unwelcome to the husband.

I guess that's the question on the table.

whatever you bring into the marriage or receive individually through gifts or inheritances remains yours
Since the "yours" is deceased, does that mean it remains mine, as her son?
 
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justalayman

Senior Member
Stephen991;2554186]There was no will. There was nothing in writing for anyone. They didn't do a single thing to identify ownership after death for anything. So this would be subject to the state laws.
absolutely. The laws of intestate succession come in to play.

The IRA is a separate unrelated issue, but to answer your question, I got it because she'd placed me on the beneficiary designation form.
just wanted to be sure there was no right to it by the husband.


So in a community property state like Arizona, where 90% of the things he is going through are from prior to their marriage, do I have the right to go into that house, unwelcome, and secure those items? I guess that's the question on the table. By unwelcome I mean - getting approval from a court, but most likely unwelcomed by the husband.
You have no rights to do anything unless you are the executor/administrator of the estate. You have to remember, it is still her husbands house and residence and you cannot simply go willy nilly through another persons house.


Since the "yours" is deceased, does that mean it remains mine, as her son?
No, it means it would be distributed as the laws of intestate succession demand.

here is a little calculator to help understand the division of property. http://www.mystatewill.com/states/AZ/AZintcalc.htm simply use an arbitrary figure for the estate if you have no idea. Then follow it through the questions.

here is another site that has a decent bunch of FAQ's http://www.keytlaw.com/azprobate/probatefaq.htm
 
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TrustUser

Senior Member
my two cents - opening probate is a bad idea. want to make clear that i realize that justalayman was not advising you one way or the other - simply stating that it was an option.

opening probate would be seen as an aggressive move on your part by the third husband, and almost certainly piss him off and that would only possibly encourage him to get rid of stuff that you want.

unfortunately for you, it is his house, and the stuff that you want is at his house.

i think your best bet is to do nothing. allow time to work. if he sees you wont act aggressively, he may mellow towards you over time.

being pro-active in this case, simply doesnt get you what you want to get.

it would be totally different if these were financial assets in which the third husband could fritter away at.

in this case, he could throw stuff away, but he could also simply hide it, and claim that he doesnt have it. what is the court gonna do ?
 
Yeah it struck me later that he would most likely just put the stuff in storage or throw it out. Thats the kind of person he is showing himself to be lately. So the element of surprise would be important, and that would require ninjas ... not courts. Amazing how different he is from when my mom was around.
 

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