My brother died last week. He did not have a will.

Question

His step son who is not his biological son is handling the estate after a verbal only appointment by the deceased b/f his death. My deceased brother's natural son (sole beneficiary) has a felony record, is on probation, etc. for heroin he has stolen from my brother, forged checks, etc. Can I as his sister protest all assets going to him? How can I go about it? 
 
Edited to add, his 'stepson's' mother is deceased. My brother was never married to his stepson's mother. They lived together. Besides his son, I am his only relative. My brother did not leave a will because he died suddenly in a car accident at 64 years old.  My nephew is on parole. When my brother was alive he made it clear that my nephew was not welcome to live in his home anymore.  He forbid the sheriff entry into the house to do an inspection for parole. So, now that my brother is deceased, my nephew who stole from my brother lives in the house, and is the legal heir. I'd like to contest that based on the circumstances.

Joanne Reisman · Answer

This doesn't make any sense - you say that your brother had a stepson which implies that he was married to this child's mother at the time of his death.  So I would want to be sure who in the family survived your brother and what their various relationships were before assuming that his biological son is his only heir. 
 
That said, your brother could have left a will and cut out his son if he had wanted to.  For whatever reason he didn't do that.  You can't step in and create the situation you think is more fair.  It was solely up to your brother to plan his final affairs and if he failed to do that, the law assumes that his lack of doing anything was his preferred way of leaving his final affairs. 
 
So no, you can't protest the legal status of the son being an heir just because you see reasons that make it wrong or unfair.  What you can do is make sure that the son is indeed the heir under Oregon Law by seeking advice from an attorney.

Vincent J. Bernabei · Answer

Unless there is a will, the sole child of a deceased person who is not married at the time of death will receive all estate assets.  Any claim for the wrongful death of the decedent as a result of the car accident also benefits the heirs of the decedent.  In this case his son is the only heir.  Yours is a cautionary tale for getting one's estate plan in order before it is too late.

Q: My brother died last week. He did not have a will.