Q: Is my husband able to collect his fathers personal affects?
My father in law passed away recently without a living will and my husband is next of kin, but his father was living with his niece at the time of death who will not contact us. We are trying to get his affairs in order and My husband was wondering if he was aloud to collect his fathers things from his apartment which he was leasing with his niece but she will not allow us to enter. She does not own most items in the apartment and we are afraid that she will be evicted soon due to her having no income and he will not be able to retrieve his fathers belongings.
A: Your husband will need to open an estate administration case in probate court to exercise his rights regarding his father's estate. His cousin (the father's niece) has a right to keep people out of her apartment. Thus the only way to force her to do anything will be to get an order from the court permitting him to be in there to martial the property of the estate. If your father-in-law's assets are only tangible personal property, it could be the cost of hiring an attorney to properly file for probate may actually be more than the value of the goods. Your best bet will be to contact an estate planning and probate lawyer who regularly practices in your late father-in-law's county. Good luck.
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