Q: my father passed away 2 days ago. no will. my brother changed locks to house. refuses to let me on the property
is it legal for him to be taking ownership yet? what are my rights? how do i get an attorney for this matter? how do you proceed to probate?
A: If your brother was the joint tenant of the house with your father, he acquired sole title upon your father's death and would be within his rights to exclude others. However, if your father was the sole owner of the house, and died intestate (meaning without a will), then his children, assuming he had no wife, would be the heirs and your brother would not be entitled to keep the house. There are not enough facts here to determine whether the police should be called. You should see an attorney to identify your rights and determine what to do.
Michael Zamzow , Brent T. Geers and Jay D Mukerji agree with this answer
1 user found this answer helpful
A:
I agree with the advice given by the other attorneys. I would further add that you are unlikely to receive assistance from the police in this matter; they will likely tell you it's a civil matter, and you'll need to go to court to address it. And that's exactly where you should go: the probate court.
Without a will, your brother has no more rights than you over your father's property and affairs. Either of you may become the personal representative. However, the law wants someone to safeguard property. Again, just based on what you're saying, I do not find anything illegal about your brother changing the locks - who knows who else might have keys, and so changing the locks may be a prudent step to safeguard the property. Now, if you also lived in the home, that would be a different matter.
Jay D Mukerji agrees with this answer
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