Halifax, PA asked in Estate Planning, Family Law and Real Estate Law for Pennsylvania

Q: Do my half siblings (we share a deceased father) have any right to my mother's estate?

I am the only full-blooded child of my deceased mother and my mother never adopted my half siblings. Neither of my parents had a will and they bought our house together. My siblings now think they have a share of my mother's estate.

2 Lawyer Answers
W. J. Winterstein Jr.
PREMIUM
W. J. Winterstein Jr.
Answered
  • Boyertown, PA
  • Licensed in Pennsylvania

A: If the parents owned the property as joint tenants with right of survivorship, or as tenants by the entireties, the mother acceded to full ownership of the real property upon the father's death.

If the real estate was owned as tenants in common, and there was no father's Will, the PA statutes on intestacy control, and the mother and children of the father share in what he may have had at death, or was includable in his estate.

Because both died without a Will, most probably your step-siblings (and you) have a share of the real estate, stemming from the father's earlier death, and the sharing of spouse and children at that time.

1 user found this answer helpful

W. J. Winterstein Jr.
PREMIUM
W. J. Winterstein Jr.
Answered
  • Boyertown, PA
  • Licensed in Pennsylvania

A: (Continued) If your mother took full title at your father's death (joint tenancy or tenancy by entireties at his death), then at the later death of mother, you as only child took the entire real estate.

Speak to an experienced PA lawyer about your issues, and share the prior Deeds and estate proceedings, if any.

1 user found this answer helpful

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