Q: I have a squatter problem in my deceased mother's house.
My mother passed away in her home in Maine she was letting her cousin stay there for the time being until the summer summer has come along and he is going to leave but he let his nease and her boyfriend move in without asking us now they won't leave the house they are not even related the house is paid off and was given to my mother by my grandfather. There is a husband in the picture and they were separated and living across the country for 2 years from each other broken up. I guess the person that is squatting in the house is friends of the husband and the husband is telling him he can stay there and to make sure I (my mother's son) doesnt go to the house to get any of my mother's belonging basically trying to get ownership over the home when it's not in probate how do I get these people out the husband lives in Idaho and my mother didn't have a will but I have messages from her months before she died talking about making a will so her husband didn't get anything but she never madeit
A: You have raised a number of issues. It seems to me as if the most important point is that there is someone living in your deceased mother's house who doesn't have a right to live there. Even if someone has permission from someone else to live there, the person living there should be paying rent to your mother's estate. Has anyone petitioned in Probate Court to be appointed Personal Representative of the estate? If you are her son, you would be a perfect candidate for PR; your mother's husband would have precedence, but if he lives in Idaho, he's not likely to be able to come and do what needs to be done. If you are successfully appointed PR, you can evict the squatter in District Court. You should hire a lawyer for both of these processes, especially because it seems likely to become contentious, so you'll want a strong advocate. Even if your mother's husband is appointed PR, you would have a right to at least part of her estate, according to the statutes that say what happens when someone dies without a will.
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