Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Indiana

Re: heir info

I'm sorry for your loss. Absent a will, the entire estate of an unmarried parent is divided equally among his children. But adult children are not entitled to anything if there was a will leaving everything to someone else. Your father may have had a will which left everything to his girl friend. (Unlikely. Someone who neglects to get married for twenty years probably neglected to make a will.) So assume estate assets should have been given to the children. But what was in the estate? Maybe nothing. Property held in joint title with the girlfriend would go to her, including real estate and bank accounts and automobiles. It sounds like you are not getting cooperation from the girlfriend about your father, so you or one of your siblings should open an estate, get appointed as personal representative, which will give you authority to investigate. This would be a good time to hire an attorney if you think your father may have had assets worth fighting about. Good luck.