Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia

Re: No will left by dad and four kids involved

Although it would be a drastic step, you could contact the Commissioner of Accounts in the County in which your father lived at his death. It is required to file quite a lot of papers with the Commissioner, who is under the Circuit Court. Your sisters may not be aware of their responsibilities under the law in this regard.

They might not be "in the system" so that the Commissioner of the Accounts is aware of your father's estate. Once it is "in the system" there are a great many requirements, including filing inventories, filing reports, documenting the distribution to heirs, filing accounting repots, etc. It can actually be quite a pain in the neck. If there is no will there are standard rules that apply to the distribution of property, such as first to wife, then equally to children (after paying all debts, of course). If your sisters want to keep the house, then they would have to buy your share from you. (Of course whomever is appointed as executor (personal representative in Virginia lingo) would have a responsibility to maximize the value of the estate. So a quick sale of the house might NOT be the wisest financial decision. Simply because you have an equal share in your father's estate does not mean that an immediate sale would be the right decision. But the executor would have a responsibility to maximize the value for ALL of the heirs EQUALLY. Bear in mind, of course, that I can only advise you as to Virginia law, not Kansas law.