Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Ohio

I am sorry for your loss. If there is a will the person named in the will should apply to be appointed executor. If there was no will then any of the silbings that are Ohio residents can apply to be appointed administrator. Only a properly apppointed executor or admnistator can sell cars, tear down buildings, trade in tractors. The property would be divided betweeen the three children equally.

You should contact an experienced probate attorney immediatley.

I am sorry for your recent loss. You should first find out if your father-in-law had a will. If he did, the will language controls. By your question, it appears that there was no will. In that case, any one of the children can petition the probate court to be the administarator of his estate. No one child has any authority to sell, gift, destroy, or take any assets at this time. A question that typically comes up is "Can the power of attorney control the assets of the deceased?" The answer to that is "no" because the power of attorney document is extinguished at the point the person has died. As far as what happens to the assets, they would be divided equally between the deceased's surviving children.

For additional information about how to handle this type of matter, if a dispute arises, please refer to our website at www.zigraylaw.com