Q: What are my rights on my family property, my dad passed suddenly from heart failure. No will.
The deed is in his name and his wifes name. Originally it was my dad and mom's place, mom passed and dad remarried. unfortunately, the new wife got the property in right of survivorship, she died and it went to her kids who never even lived in the place. She had no will. Her kids have not paid the taxes and abandoned it so it is in disrepair. It will go up on tax auction next year. Her kids never put it through probate. So the deed is still in my dads name and his 2nd wifes name. Do I have any legal rights to this property? The kids say they are going to sell it but it still has my dad's name on it.
A: If your dad and his new wife put the property in their names as joint tenants and he predeceased her, then the property would still be in her estate. In such circumstances, you do not have any legal rights to the property. The intestate heirs of your dad's new wife would be the owners, subject to verification via a probate action. If your dad had died after his new wife, you would have inherited at least part of the property.
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