Q: My husband took his life and his mom took possession of his belongings and his body, and now demanding his things.
We were married in secret in Mexico because his family has always been abusive. As far as they knew we were living together and engaged happily. We both made our wills after some difficult times we had with our health and his will is signed by myself and my mom and witnesses. My husband struggled with bipolar and with drug addiction and the last 2 days of his life he was out of his mind with drugs and manic. He took his life at his mothers house in NM, after arguing with me to leave him there and go back home to AZ. I left to AZ on the bus. He committed suicide the next day in Nm. The car he was driving was bought from his mom by the foundation we work with, he was driving a corp car registered to foundation. His mother took possession of his body in NM, belongings, vehicle, and now harassed me in AZ at my home for his belongings or threatens to sue me, call PD, and blames me for his death. What are my recourses? She lives in CA. Car can be reported stolen. What about his belongings?
A:
I'm sorry for your loss and all that you're going through with your spouse's mother.
You filed this under Family Law (which is divorce and child custody), Civil Litigation (lawsuits), and Wrongful Death (when you sue someone for killing a family member). What you need to do is file this question under is probate.
You need should show a probate attorney the will he signed and discuss about whether it's valid or not. From there, the probate attorney can instruct you on what to do then.
The one thing I can answer is this--if your marriage was legal under Mexican law, Arizona will recognize it. I don't know if that will come into play in the probate matter or not.
I also think calling the police on your mother-in-law is inappropriate. I would not report the car as stolen. Rather, I'd go through the Court process to get it back.
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