Fathers will

[faxis]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mississippi
My father passed in January and has a will. He was remarried after my mother passed in 1988. What rights do I have as the only surviving child. I will be able to see the will next week but wanted to know any flags to look for. I had heard that if I was not mentioned at all that would be a good thing for me.At first I only wanted my fathers guns and bible, but have told by my stepmother that anything they bought together I would not get.

[Banned_Princess]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mississippi
My father passed in January and has a will. He was remarried after my mother passed in 1988. What rights do I have as the only surviving child. I will be able to see the will next week but wanted to know any flags to look for. I had heard that if I was not mentioned at all that would be a good thing for me.At first I only wanted my fathers guns and bible, but have told by my stepmother that anything they bought together I would not get.

As his next of kin, and without a will, she does get everything.

With a will, you get what he left you according to the will.

Simple as that.

[faxis]

If I am not mentioned at all in the will , what happens then? my stepmother is very intimidating and since there marriage she has basically pushed a wedge between anyone on his side of the family and him.

[Eekamouse]

She couldn't do that without his cooperation, you know. If your father left everything to her, that was his right.

[anteater]

I had heard that if I was not mentioned at all that would be a good thing for me.

I don't know that it would be a "good thing." But it is probably a better thing for you than not being acknowledged at all.

If you are not mentioned at all. I would suggest that you consult with a Mississippi probate attorney. Depending upon Mississippi case law, there might be something to work with.

[anteater]

As his next of kin, and without a will, she does get everything.

Not really.

SEC. 91-1-7. Descent of property as between husband and wife.

If a husband die intestate and do not leave children or descendants of children, his widow shall be entitled to his entire estate, real and personal, in fee simple, after payment of his debts; but where the deceased husband shall leave a child or children by that or a former marriage, or descendants of such child or children, his widow shall have a child's part of his estate, in either case in fee simple. If a married woman die owning any real or personal estate not disposed of, it shall descend to her husband and her children or their descendants if she have any surviving her, either by a former husband or by the surviving husband, in equal parts, according to the rules of descent. If she have children and there also be descendants of other children who have died before the mother, the descendants shall inherit the share to which the parent would have been entitled if living, as coheirs with the surviving children. If she have no children or descendants of them, then the husband shall inherit all of her property.

[selhars]

Your dad had a will which would have his wishes -- but can also be challenged IF there are grounds for that.

But as has been said -- if there is NO will -- the state's intestate laws govern who gets what, and how the estate is divided.

Don't know about MOST states, but in PA as well, the wife isn't allowed to get it ALL. Intestate law mandates that kids get some...I think a spouse has to get at least a-third (or vice-versa). Meaning the person can't get less than a certain amount, but also can't cut others out and get it all.

Whatever state is at issue the intestate laws should be on the state's website.

[faxis]

i went to my stepmothers house this weekend to get some things that actually belonged to my mother. I was not allowed to see the will and am wondering why? Wouldnt I have some rights to at loeast see the will? It is being kept in a safe deposit box at a bank. Would the will have to be probated? I am so lost right now.

[latigo]

i went to my stepmothers house this weekend to get some things that actually belonged to my mother. I was not allowed to see the will and am wondering why? Wouldnt I have some rights to at loeast see the will? It is being kept in a safe deposit box at a bank. Would the will have to be probated? I am so lost right now.

And you are doing a good job of getting other people lost, me for example.

If you haven’t seen such a will, how do you know that it even exists much less where it is being kept?

If you have good reason to believe that such a will does exist and that it is in the widow’s possession or control, then you have a couple of options.

1. You can invoke Section 91-7-5 of the Mississippi Probate Code and upon formal application secure an order of the proper county chancery court compelling stepmother to appear before the court and show cause why she should not be order to produce the document. Or;

2. Having no personal knowledge of the existence of a will you could proceed on the assumption that he died intestate and file for your appoint as administrator of his estate.

But you will not be able to do either of the above without the services of an attorney experienced in practicing Mississippi probate law.
__________________

Thankfully someone earlier corrected the recklessly misleading guesswork from banned-princess about your rights of inheritance should no will surface.

As his next of kin, and without a will, she does get everything. . . . Simple as that.

Clearly that ain’t true. But likewise it is not simple. And far be it from me to try and explain let alone comprehend Mississippi’s laws on descent and distribution. They are like no others I have read and I’ve read most of them.

My head continues to reel just trying to figure out what means, “the widow shall have a child’s part of the estate” as in:

"Mississippi Probate Code § 91-1-7. Descent of property as between husband and wife. If a husband die intestate and do (sic) not leave children . . . . widow shall be entitled to his entire estate, . . . . but where the deceased husband shall leave a child or children by that or a former marriage, or descendants of such child or children, his widow shall have a child's part of his estate, in either case in fee simple. . . . "

Aardvark, Please!

[Stephen1]

i went to my stepmothers house this weekend to get some things that actually belonged to my mother.

You went to the house to get things that USED to belong to your mother (she's deceased). After her estate was probated those things passed to some heir, probably her husband, who became the owner. Now that he has died, those items belong to HIS estate, which, as you have pointed out, has not yet been probated. They may end up belonging to your stepmother. So, if you want her to let you have them, be nice to her.

[anteater]

Clearly that ain’t true. But likewise it is not simple. And far be it from me to try and explain let alone comprehend Mississippi’s laws on descent and distribution. They are like no others I have read and I’ve read most of them.

My head continues to reel just trying to figure out what means, “the widow shall have a child’s part of the estate” as in:

"Mississippi Probate Code § 91-1-7. Descent of property as between husband and wife. If a husband die intestate and do (sic) not leave children . . . . widow shall be entitled to his entire estate, . . . . but where the deceased husband shall leave a child or children by that or a former marriage, or descendants of such child or children, his widow shall have a child's part of his estate, in either case in fee simple. . . . "

Aardvark, Please!

Hey, Lats, good to see you back.

I would not be surprised if there were some other oddities tucked away somewhere in the Mississippi code. But I take it to mean that MS is not terribly friendly to widows under intestacy. I reckon it to mean that you add up the widow and the number of eligible children and just divide the estate by that number. If there is a widow and 9 children, the widow gets 10%.

[TrustUser]

Hey, Lats, good to see you back.

I would not be surprised if there were some other oddities tucked away somewhere in the Mississippi code. But I take it to mean that MS is not terribly friendly to widows under intestacy. I reckon it to mean that you add up the widow and the number of eligible children and just divide the estate by that number. If there is a widow and 9 children, the widow gets 10%.

hi ant,

that was my interpretation of it, as well.

[commentator]

Yep, that's it. In several southern states. Widow gets a child's portion. Now days, that is. Nine kids and a stepmom, no will, she gets one tenth of the estate. In the older times, children from previous marriage were considered the only heirs, new wife got zilch (certainly wasn't considered next of kin, regardless of her marital status) that's why they had poorhouses, so the heirs could throw her out and divy up the old home place.

But if there was a simple will, leaving everything to his current wife, that would be the way the cookie crumbled, unless there were some really big amounts of estate, very valuable things worth a long court fight and a reasonable argument might be made about the validity of the will. One possible issue might be if the other heir was totally unmentioned in the will. In that case, there might be some area where it could be argued that the person making the will was "under duress" or under the new wife's influence to the point of totally forgetting about the son from a previous marriage. If he does mention the son in the will, "....and to my son George, I leave one dollar and my shot gun and my Bible...." that eliminates the possibility that the person forgot he even had a son because he wasn't mentally competent when the will was made.

I believe that the son may be able to request a copy of the will by "going to the courthouse" if it has been probated. Has it? I mean, it sort of makes sense to me that she wouldn't have a copy of the will for him to look at on demand. After the estate was settled, I wouldn't keep a copy lying around the house so anyone who wanted to could take a gander at it, and she is quite within her rights to tell him that all the property is now hers, whether it was his deceased momma's or not, once the estate has been settled. But "kept in a safe deposit box" after it has been probated sounds a little hinky to me. It's entirely possible that there was no will, and that the stepmother is trying to keep him from finding this out.