Generally, only spouses, registered domestic partners, and blood relatives inherit under intestate succession laws; unmarried partners, friends, and charities get nothing. If the deceased person was married, the surviving spouse usually gets the largest share.
DETERMINING WHO IS AN HEIR
Generally, the heirs of the decedent are their surviving spouse and children, including all of decedent's biological children and adopted children.
This law states that no matter what your will says, your spouse has a right to inherit one-third or one-half (depending on the state and sometimes depending on the length of the marriage) of your total estate. To exercise this right, your spouse has to petition the probate court to enforce the law.
When someone dies and there is no living spouse, survivors receive the estate through inheritance. This is usually a cash endowment given to children or grandchildren, but an inheritance may also include assets like stocks and real estate.
Generally speaking, heirs who inherit the property are children, descendants, or other close relatives of the decedent. Legally speaking, heirs differ from beneficiaries, who are designated by a will or other written documents, as the intended recipient of a decedent's assets.
Parents, brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews of the intestate person may inherit under the rules of intestacy. This will depend on a number of circumstances: whether there is a surviving married or civil partner. whether there are children, grandchildren or great grandchildren.
Most common law states protect a surviving spouse from complete disinheritance with an inheritance law that allows them to claim one-third to one-half of the decedent's property. In some states, the amount a spouse can inherit increases with the number of years of the marriage.
Generally speaking, the surviving spouse is first in line to inherit, with children and grandchildren next in line. If the surviving spouse has any minor children, they may inherit the whole estate. Adult children may receive a share of inheritance.
If any half brother or sister has previously died leaving children, those children will get their parent's share. The next group to inherit are full aunts and uncles. If any died leaving children (cousins of the person who has died with the same 2 grandparents), those children will get their parent's share.
In the absence of a surviving spouse, the person who is next of kin inherits the estate. The line of inheritance begins with direct offspring, starting with their children, then their grandchildren, followed by any great-grandchildren, and so on.
Generally, the government distributes the estate along the lines of the deceased's family tree, with special rights for spouses, but that's only when the property is registered solely in the name of the deceased. If the property is registered as joint ownership, the title passes to the surviving owner.
Once it has been established that there is no will, someone (usually the deceased's closest living relative) needs to apply to the High Court to be appointed an administrator. This is called applying for “letters of administration”).
According to the Indian Succession Act, 1956, and the Indian Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, children- boys or girls, have a right to the father's ancestral property by birth. The parents' self-acquired property can be given to anyone they want through a written will.
Brothers or sisters are not compulsory heirs. Thus, without a Will, they may not inherit. However, if there is an instance that brothers or sisters were instituted as heirs in a Will, still, they cannot receive the whole or all of their inheritance if it would reduce the lawful share of the compulsory heirs.
When siblings are legally determined to be the surviving kin highest in the order of succession, they will inherit the assets in their deceased sibling's Estate. And they inherit it equally. If there is one surviving sibling, the entire Estate will go to them.
No state has laws that grant favor to a first-born child in an inheritance situation. Although this tradition may have been the way of things in historic times, modern laws usually treat all heirs equally, regardless of their birth order.
Does a next of kin have legal rights and responsibilities? No. The term next of kin is in common use but a next of kin has no legal powers, rights or responsibilities. In particular, they cannot give consent for providing or withholding any treatment or care.
Phone a solicitor that does wills and probate and ask them, they should know. Your mother's next of kin is her eldest child. The term "next of kin" is most commonly used following a death. Legally, it refers to those individuals eligible to inherit from a person who dies without a will.
The only way to give your next of kin legal rights and empower them to deal with your affairs on your behalf is by appointing them under a Lasting Power of Attorney. You can make arrangements for this at any time so long as you have sufficient mental capacity.
Selling the Home: The easiest solution when inheriting a house with siblings is generally to sell the house and divide the proceeds from the sale among the siblings according to the percentage shares each sibling had been designated by the will or trust.
However, if there is no will, then the attorney can apply to become an administrator of the estate, if they are the next of kin such as a spouse, child or relative of the deceased (but not usually an unmarried partner).
Paying with the bank account of the person who died
It is sometimes possible to access the money in their account without their help. As a minimum, you'll need a copy of the death certificate, and an invoice for the funeral costs with your name on it. The bank or building society might also want proof of your identity.
Since your father died intestate, that is, without making a will, all the legal heirs, including you, your brother and your mother, will have equal rights over the property. If he had made a will making your brother the beneficiary of the property, you would have had no legal right over the said property.