Mother and step father died 25 days apart. Mother first, without a will. Father died next with a will, leaving everything to Mother
Question Details: Hello, my sister and I need your help please. Long story short, my Mom died on Apr 9th, 2009, leaving no will. My step-father of 40 years died 25 days later with a will that left everything to my mother. They were residents of Coconino County. My step-siblings retained a lawyer in Phx . Our step-siblings failed to mention my sister and I's existence. My sister and I feel that we are entitled to some inheritance but we do not know the Arizona law or codes. My question is do we stand a chance to inherit or not. Also Mom inherited $ from her parents,are we entitled?Thank you, Kellie
Unless your stepfather made provision for you in his will, which does not appear to be the case, you have no direct interest in his estate. You are, however, your mother's legal heirs and may be entitled under Arizona law to receive a portion of her intestate estate.
But the problem is more complicated than this and requires further investigation into how your mother and stepfather held title to their property, whether or not either of them had any identifiable separate property, and whether or not they had any community property at the time of your mother's death. There are too many unknowns to give you a specific answer on the basis of the limited facts you described.
You should promptly consult an attorney in Flagstaff, the county seat of Coconino County (this assumes they were residents of that county at the time of their respective deaths) and get some specific answers concerning the disposition of your mother's estate. As her children you, and not your step-siblings, have preference to be appointed to administer her estate, should any formal administration of the estate be required.
Good luck.
Your step-father's estate would have passed to your mother unless there was a "survivorship clause" in his will. A survivorship clause is a clause provides that a beneficiary must survive the testator by a specified period of time as a condition of that beneficiary inheriting; typically the specified period is 30 days. If your mother was "disinherited" due to such a clause and since she was the sole beneficiary, then in that event, his estate may be treated as though he died "intestate" (without a will). In which case your mother, as spouse, may still have been entitled to a share of his estate. However, this issue can get quite complex and is heavily governed by state law. You would need to consult with an Arizona estates attorney on the matter.
As for your mother's estate (whatever that was determined to be), since she died without a will, she too died intestate. In that case, since she was not survived by her spouse, her estate would be distributed to you and your sister (and the step children if they were adopted by your mother).
Again, however, I can't stress enough that you should consult with an Arizona attorney as to all this. There may be some specific state law that applies to your case and of which I am unaware and which effects your legal rights.
Best of luck.
