Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: Who are considered legal heirs when there is no will and how do we claim inh

You should contact an attorney immediately. In the absence of a will, inheritance is based on bloodlines and marriage - that is, children, grandchildren and any spouse inherit before the decedent's parents or siblings.

I am admitted to practice in Massachusetts and am available to discuss this matter with you, but, of course, I would need more details. E-mail or fax is the best way to reach me since meetings & court appearances eat up much of the 9-5 day.

Re: Who are considered legal heirs when there is no will and how do we claim inh

"When my father died last month, his brothers"

BROTHERS? Unless he created a trust naming them as trustees

while alive or within his will he named them as trustees or executors,

their involvement is illegal, they have no business doing any of what

you claim and they are especially breaking the law if they profit from

this; in the absence of a will (or a previously established trust),

brothers have no rights to any of the estate while there are legal

children of the deceased. Had he ever had a divorce? Did he die single?

If he was married, the spouse has major rights, more even than children,

but children generally have rights, too. Brothers have none unless

spouse, no children, and even no parents of the deceased under

Massachusetts "intestacy" statutes.

"took his car" they'll have to deal with the Registry

and either show a court-appointment of an executor or

an administrator or else transfer it to his spouse. Without

that, they won't be able to sell it to anyone, not unless they

do something drastic like forge some papers to get a salvage (trashed

car) license. They might be able to get away with operating it for awhile.

(But I know how to stop that, too!)

"and boat" -- there's a similar registration process for boats.

"and all of his paperwork which included insurance policies,"

the insurance companies (when they are informed of his death in

the legal manner) will pay whoever he had listed as his

beneficiaries, no matter who has the insurance policy documents;

possession of them makes little difference except that if you

are a beneficiary, it'd be a lot easier to file the claim if you

knew who the insurer(s) were!

"bank accounts," generally paid to joint account holder or "p.o.d." (payable on

death) party or else USUALLY the bank will require a copy of a court

document showing who's in charge of the estate (executor or administrator),

which is an appointment that the court requires natural heirs (e.g., children!) be

informed of before it happens, unless they are minors!

TO BE CONTINUED

Re: Who are considered legal heirs when there is no will and how do we claim inh

CONTINUED FROM LAST MESSAGE (This is #2 of 2 parts).

"safe deposit boxes,"

banks shouldn't allow "just anyone" to get access to the box; if

they have, you may never know what was in the box because the brothers

could have stolen the contents.

"and stocks."

Getting the stocks retitled is a very tedious process and also

requires proof of a court appointment of an executor or administrator.

You shouldn't be worried about this, either, theoretically.

"They will not let us (his siblings)" WHAT? his brothers and

his sisters are his siblings, not his children!

"see any of the paperwork and they are trying to figure out how to sell his car and boat.

Can they legally do this?" NO.

"How can we stop them?" There is are a couple of legal procedures

an attorney can choose from, one of which is an emergency measure.

You will have subpoena rights to demand

the documents be turned over.

Write back to me with more

details. I especially want to know where he last resided.

Write to me at [email protected] via e-mail. In spite of the

calm I project, I actually think you should hustle on this

very quickly. How many children are there and where do they

each live? How old is each?

How do you know that the brothers took control of the safe deposit

boxes? How do you know any of what you wrote? Do you know where the

safe deposit boxes are? Do you know any of the other details?

I may be able to take your case for you after I hear these answers.

I'd like to read your answers tomorrow night and have you call me

Thursday morning after 10 AM for my comments.

Good luck.