Legal issues after suicide

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smittykitty678

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My fiance's step father committed suicide about a month ago.
My fiance's mother and step father divorced about a year ago.
They got married when my fiance was a young child (he is now in his twenties), so this is the man he considered his "Dad".
His stepfather has one biological daughter, my fiance, and his brother (all grown).
The executor of the estate is his daughter. My fiance and his brother are in agreement with her on all grounds, and they have not had any problems. They are all very close.
There are life insurance policies, which specifically name amounts and beneficiaries. They are clear cut and legal, and I am not concerned with them.
Here are the questions/issues:
1. He left a suicide note, which was signed and dated by him. It includes the phrase "I am of sound mind and body while writing this". It was not notarized and has no witnesses. Can this be considered a legal document? It contains information regarding his wishes for division of certain personal properties.
2. A few months before he passed away, he helped his elderly mother sell her home. He was living with her before his death. She still lives in it, and now rents it from the new owner. Our belief is that he did this so she would have a low rent (instead of a mortgage) and so she would not be responsible for maintenance and repairs. Her daughter (the deceased's sister), is presurring her to buy the house back. She has said she will not leave until it is done (the mother lives in Kentucky, the sister lives in Colorado). We would rather have her rent, so she will have less payments and worries. Is there any way to prevent her daughter from doing this? We think she's doing it so she'll get the house if (God forbid) anything happens to her mother.
3. The deceased's sister has also told his children that they may not remove any of his belongings from his house until everything goes through probate. Currently, she will not even let his daughter into the house (her own father and grandmother's home!) She's claiming that she is entitled to certain items, because they were her father and grandfather's. But when her father and grandfather passed away, they left these items to her brother. When he passed, he wanted his children to have them. What should the children do to protect these items and/or remove them from the house? Will we need to prove these were inherited by the deceased?
4. The deceased's sister also wants to see the suicide note, and information pertaining to the insurance policies. His daughter and stepsons agreed that this would not be in their best interest, and have refused. Their aunt went to their attorney and demanded to see the documents. The attorney is an old family friend, and we are unsure what he said to her. The aunt claims she is working with the attorney, too. We do not know if she really retained his services, but if she did, wouldn't that be a HUGE conflict of intereset? Does she have any legal right to see the note or policies?

As you can probably guess by now, all of the problems are stemming from the deceased's sister. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as we have enough pain and grief to deal with, and are all feeling frustrated and disgusted with her behaviour. Thank you so much.
4.
 
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