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Father died in MD No will Married to lady for 5 years

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L

litttlered

Guest
My father just died and my head is swirling. He did not have a will and my stepmother, brother and her son live in his house. He never put her name on it. I believe he did this so that I would get it and my brother would get his small business that he and my brother have run together for years. My father had many friends and relatives and I am worried about them trying to take advantage of the situation and stick their hands into the house and the on the business. My husband and I live in North carolina and so it is no so easy to handle things from here.Please Help.I just need a few places to start.
 


ALawyer

Senior Member
My sincere condolences. The property he owned in his own name (rather than as joint property) is divided according to the laws of intestacy in the state he lived in (MD) if there is no Will. Insurance, IRAs, etc. goes to the named beneficiaries in most instances.

His widow, and all his children (not his step children, unless he adopted them) will share in the estate, and each gets a share. I do not know MD law but in many states she'd get the first $50,000 plus 1/3rd of the rest and you and your siblings would share the 2/3rds equally.

A lawyer will be needed to handle the estate, and someone has to be appointed Administrator or Personal Reresentative, probably his widow (if she is regarded as trustworthy), and ideally she will be fair and you can agree on dividing things based on the appraised values, getting along without creating rancor or fighting over evrything and wasting the assets and inheritance with additional lawyer's fees.
 

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