Q: Father died without a will, his most recent spouse is not allowing his children to look through his belongings. Rights?
A:
First of all sorry for your loss. This sounds like a horrible situation.
You didn't mention but I assume that his children are adults. There is limited information that they could discover regarding assets such as real estate by searching property records. Google "Kellpro Land Records Oklahoma". This has about 66 of Oklahoma's 77 counties online. Large population counties like Oklahoma, Tulsa, Canadian & Cleveland have their own searching systems. County assessors can have good information as well.
If you believe there is more, you may want to have a child seek appointment as a personal representative of the estate. The spouse would probably object and there may be a fight for that position. The PR will have the right to access records but may require judicial assistance to do so. If the wife is PR then the family is entitled to an inventory. Again court interference may be required. In short, this could prove to be costly both financially & emotionally.
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