Parents Passed Away Without a Will

[smeadows]

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

My biological father passed away 2 years ago without leaving a will, no one was too concerned. His wife, my stepmother, was still alive. We told her to make a will and transfer things into her name (everything was in Dad's name, he handled everything). Stepmother just passed away and we have since found out that she did not transfer anything to her name and she did not make a will. My step sister (biological daughter to stepmother not to my father) immediately went to the house, pulled my father's death certificate out of files and has started closing the estate. She has changed the locks on the house, cancelled some services and notified my brother and I that she will be cleaning the house out soon.

With no wills and everything in our father's name, but her mother passed last, whose responsibility is the estate. She is handling things as if it is all hers.

 

[anteater]

With no wills and everything in our father's name, but her mother passed last, whose responsibility is the estate.

That's not really the best way of framing the question. The law does not demand that anybody be responsible.

You (and any of your father's other biological children) have no real standing in your stepmother's estate since she died intestate. While, in theoretical terms, you stand to inherit from your father's intestate estate, it isn't possible to say with certainty that you would inherit from his estate without knowing the nature of the property that he owned. Under CA's intestate succession scheme, the surviving spouse inherits the deceased spouse's share of community property.

About the only way that I can think of to slow the train is for one of you to file to open probate for your father's estate. You probably want to gather as much info as you can about your father's property and then consult with a few probate attorneys before proceeding.