Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arkansas
Stepmother-no will
My Stepmother passed away recently. She had a son and daugher. My father is her living spouse. There is a bank account with her name on it only. Does this money in the account go only to my father or does it have to be split with his step children. The house and land that they owned is in both my father and stepmothers name, and is our understanding that as long as both names were on the title that it goes to my father only. He is also having trouble getting the money out of the account. Does he have to have a power of attorney papers written up to get this money? What else does he have to have and how long does it take for this money to be released. What about all of the belongings in the house does that go directly to him and if so, if they have removed anything out of the house will they have to bring it back. He has been away for a couple of weeks and is afraid that they had a duplicate key made and has gotten into the house and removed items. What can he do if this has happened? There was no will.
Sincerely
--name removed--
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Stepmother-no will
I am assuming all of this is in AR. That is how I will answer this question.
A person in AR who passes away without a will has their property distributed according to AR statutes. Generally, a spouse is entitled to one-third of the property. Any children split up the other two-thirds of the property.
Property that was in the name of both spouses is generally considered to pass directly to the surviving spouse regardless of whether or not they had a will.
As far as the bank account, was any of the money in the account your father's?
The estate will have to establish an administrator of the estate. A close relative is usually who that is. Your father could request to be the administrator, if he so chooses. The administrator will be responsible to the court for handling the estate property, including the distribution of the bank account.
The property in the house should remain there if there is a dispute or disagreement of who owns it. If it is in your father's possession and it is found missing, he may want to contact the people he believes has it. If that doesn't work, he may need to make a police report.
Where in AR is this property? Your father may want to consider retaining an attorney for the estate of his wife. Usually, an attorney for an estate can be paid out of the money of property of the estate.
I hope this has been helpful.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
