Q: Does my 40 year old brother who still lives at home have any claim beyond that stipulated by my parents will?

A: If you mean does your brother have any claim beyond the term's of your parent's will by virtue of still living in the home that is now part of the estate, then no, not unless he has a lease agreement. However, the executor can't just kick your brother out of the home either. If your brother ends up under the terms of the will as a co-owner of the house, then he can stay. If the house must be sold to pay claims against the estate or because that is what the will says or because the house goes to someone else, then the executor of the estate (after appointment by the court) is going to need to hire an attorney to evict him, and eviction takes time. There is a notice that must go to the "tenant" and a period of time before the tenant must move out, and if the tenant does not move out voluntarily, then more steps that need to be taken to enforce the eviction order.

A: Claim? That depends on what you mean by that. If he is your parents' primary care giver and they have a contract or agreement to pay him for his services, and they owe him money after they are both deceased, then he might have a claim for any unpaid balance due. The will dictates what each heir is to receive in the way of assets from the estate. the estate only distributes to heirs after all other administrative expenses and creditor claims are paid. Whomever is named as executor or personal representative of the estate is also entitled to a fee for the time they spend administering the estate.

One thing to understand about estate assets: only those items that are in the sole name of your parent when they die is part of the estate. Jointly owned property, or accounts that name a "transfer on death" beneficiary, generally belong to the surviving owner or beneficiary and are not counted as estate assets, which means they are not distributed under the will. So, if your brother were to be added to your parents' deed to the house as a joint tenant with right of survivorship, or added to their bank accounts as a joint account holder, or named as a beneficiary to any of those accounts, all such assets would become his sole property upon your parents' deaths. He would not have to make any claim, as they would already be his.