Father died + no will , please help

[lovelylady67]

My father died , he left no will . Im 1 of 3 children , the other 2 havent been invovled in his life for 9 years , then came to his deathbed.
I need quick advice , my oldest sister is applying to be administrator of his estate . He really didnt have too much , an apt , furniture , two nice cars , and a few small accounts probably est . 35,000
He also just retired two months ago , now my issue is what would i be giving up if I allowed my sister to be adminisrator ( im outraged that she is even involved )
I believe the courts , believe in splitting the total estate 3 ways . Do I have a say in this matter . Sister # 1 disowned him 8 yrs ago , and she didnt allow him at her residence or any communication . Sister # 2 has been in jail for a long time and has borrowed well over 15 k from my father that she never paid back .
Also , he has retirement benifits , they are sending me papers , I dont know if there is a benificary or not , but if there is does the amount the benificary recieve have anything to do with his assets.
And should I sign and allow my sister to be administrator , I did get a little advice and that was to disguss matters w/ my sister , however she jumped the gun and emptied his apartment in no time and took his cars . She claimed that she is holding everything untill this gets worked out .
For a long time my father always told me I could have his S.U.V if he ever died . Please help me , she also mentioned the SUV valued @ 15 K , that i would have to pay for if its over the amount of assets that im supposed to recieve .

 

[lwpat]

It just depends on how much your portion of the estate is worth. The fact that your other two sisters had no contact does not effect their right to a portion of the estate. You should have gotten your father to execute a will.

If you ever expect to receive anything then you need to file to be the executor. If you can provide testimony that you were the one taking care of him then the court will favor you or either name coexecutors. Your sister will keep what she wants and give you as little as possible and there will be nothing you can do if she is named executor.

It is possible that the retirement will pass outside the estate and directly to the beneficiary. You will just have to see what they send. Only the beneficary is entitled to the money.

Check with the probate court. My guess is that you sister may not have even started probate. If not then you need to file first.

 

[ceo60]

When there is no will, it's called died intestate. You can apply to be a co-administator. IF your sister applies to be an administrator of his estate you will know because you have to sign a waiver of administration if you want her to handle the whole thing. Or you may choose to do it together this way you can have a say in everything that goes on. If you sign the waiver you give her permission to do what she wants, but she still has to account everything to you in the end. Problem is she can hid a lot. Knowone knows if he had a lot of assests or lived like a pauper. If you don't trust them, make sure you are a co-administrator........Hope this helps a little. I am not a lawyer, but am currently going through this now as my mom died in Octorber and I am the administrator of her estate.

Colleen