Maybe some Lawyers or Law-Hobbyist can help me

[Drale]

Unfortunately my girlfriends Uncle passed away on Tuesday. I am only ask this for her sake and am getting nothing out of it for myself. He has three children and a sister. His oldest son, his sister and her daughter (my girlfriend) have been taking care of him ever since he was diagnosed with cancer and the rest of them didn't show up until he was on his death bed. I don't know why but he always made his youngest, his daughter the center of his attention and she is the most selfish person I know. When he passed, he did not have a will and left all his bank assets and life insurance to his daughter. She had nothing to do with taking care of him or even caring about him, in fact she made things worst be always demanding things from him. My question is, is their anyway to force her to split her inheritance or make her forfeit it all together? This in Indiana if that helps and my girlfriends cousin who is a lawyer is going to help them but I'm wondering if its even possible. He owns a trailer and 2 cars as well, and I know she thinks she owns those now to but since they were owned by him and not the bank, she has no claim on them. She is a terrible person and although I feel bad because she lost her dad, she does not deserve every cent when she did nothing to help him at all except cry when he passed away. If any other info is needed, comment and I'll try to answer all questions.

[KharmaTrain]

1. Find A Probate Attorney...

Sorry to hear about your loss. You state he didn't leave a will? If so I would imagine that all his assets would then go into a probate situation...either adjudicated in court or by a judge. I'd look for an attorney who specializes in estates and probate matters as the laws vary from state to state. Also I'm sure he/she would give you an indication of what your girlfriend is entitled to...especially if she spent any money for his care. This could take a long time to sort out...I wish you the best of luck...

[Drale]

3. Thank you for the advice

I think I might try to reason with her first, tell her that she could just split everything like the family agreed to or we can take it to court and she could possible end up with nothing plus court fees. I know thats not likely but she's not really that smart, she stole my girlfriends ex, which I'm grateful for cause he was a terrible person, got pregnant, ran away to Kentucky and had another kid with him as well. I know its not ethical but I'm tired of dealing with her bullshit and her family won't stand up to her, so I guess its got to be me. Maybe she will see the light and just give up.

[KharmaTrain]

7. You Might Not Have An Alternative...

If there's no will and he left an estate of some value then I'm all but certain it'll end up in court, so it may be best to "get in line". You may also be able to find a lawyer who will work on a contingency basis...pay the bulk of their fees on the back end. It sucks to have to "lawyer up" but without a will there's no other legal way to sort it out.

[RC]

2. Not a lawyer, nor have I ever played one, but, if he did not have a will, how could he have left

anything to his daughter? The state laws govern here. You will need an attorney that specializes in stuff like this to sort this out.

[Drale]

4. Because he had a thing with the bank

that if he passed she was the person who they should give everything to and she was the sole benefactor on his life insurance policy.

[marybourg]

5. Generally, if you die without a will and without a spouse

but with children, your estate is divided among your children. An exception is any type of possession or account where you've put someone else's name on it as beneficiary or co-owner. I assume that's his bank account and life insurance. Any other possession should be divided among all children equally. Someone needs to be named executor of the estate and that's where the lawyer-relative can help.
Unless someone is mentally incompetent or can be shown to have been unduly influenced, they have the right to dispose of their possessions ontheirr death as they choose, whether it's fair or not.

[Sancho]

6. I have no idea about your situation, but everyone needs to make a will!!!

And if you're smart you need to create a trust, power of attorney, or medical power of attorney and name someone to act in your stead if you can't make decisions.

There are different state laws, but everyone needs to think about this before you get sick or pass away leaving confusion or a mess.

We saw problems occur like this years ago, so my family all got a good lawyer and executed appropriate wills. When my mother (with the biggest estate) developed dementia and needed care and legal decisions, we had already discussed her wishes and we were able to deal with things without any friction.

I"m sorry people have to go though this, but many times it's avoidable if you plan ahead. And it's not really that expensive to get a lawyer to create a will. Here, it was a few hundred dollars. Worth every penny.

[oldhippie]

10. If the father had left a will, ....

... it sounds like the OP and his GF would have no claim on the assets.

I'd also fear that the cost of a lawyer would be more than the value of the assets recovered.

[treestar]

8. If he did not have a will, his estate will pass by the intestate statute for that state

life insurance is not part of an estate - it's a contract. So that goes to the beneficiary without probate.

But everything else he owns goes through probate as an intestate estate. The state statutes are even handed.

It doesn't matter who did what in any event. A person with a will could leave their assets as they pleased. But the intestate statute will be fair.

[Jersey Devil]

9. I handle probate cases here in NJ

I am an attorney. I am not familiar with Indiana law but I am sure it is very similar to the laws of other states. If someone does not have a will, the laws of "intestacy" apply and children would share equally (assuming no surviving spouse). A sister would not inherit. Who inherits by law has nothing to do with who deserves it.

However, since you state he "left all his bank accounts and insurance to his daughter", I am guessing that he named her as beneficiary on his life insurance policy and made her a co-depositor by putting her name on his bank accounts. If he did that then those assets do not pass through probate and are hers automatically by operation of law. They would pass to her whether he had a will or not if he did that.

As for any other assets, such as the trailer and cars or any other property in his name only, they would pass to the children equally by intestacy. They are not "owned by the bank" (unless Indiana is a "title state&quot but even if they were, they could be sold and the net equity would belong to the children equally once the loans on them were paid.

The daughters need to see a probate lawyer immediately to arrange to have one (or all of them) appointed as Administrator of the estate.