Q: If a parent dies is it illegal for the children to remove all belongings from the home?
The parent has no will and no spouse. There is a homestead on the house. The parent has a ton of debt.
A:
A very interesting question. As a practical matter, personal possessions are taken all the time from the decedent's home and if none of the heirs has a beef with the way the possessions are divided up, the courts never hear about it. Many lawyers charge according to the size of the estate and I suspect in some of the probates I do the adult children just divide up the personal possessions among themselves and tell me there was nothing of value in the house.
Also, as a practical matter, in most cases the personal possessions of the decedent, such as used clothing, furniture etc. aren't really worth anything.
However, the fact that the house is homesteaded in the name of the decedent does not protect the house from the decedent's creditors.
If the house needs to be probated to pass it on to the heirs then a probate will be necessary and the person seeking the probate will have to sign paperwork under penalty of perjury stating what the decedent's assets were, including valuable personal possessions such as gold coins, gold jewelry, valuable antiques etc. Lying under oath would be illegal.
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