Does my brothers spouse have the right to keep living in my mothers home after my brother passing?

My mom passed away 2/12 years ago and did not leave a living will. My brother and his wife continued to live in her home and now my brother passed away on 5/16/08. Does she have a right to say that the house is now hers because she has been a residenant since 2000? The house was never in his name. We no longer want her there.Does my brothers spouse have the right to keep living in my mothers home after my brother passing?
Since there is no will, things can get pretty sticky. However, what ever he inherited would become hers when he died. So, if he had the right to live there she likely still does.





Why you have waited 2 1/2 years to probate the estate is beyond me.Does my brothers spouse have the right to keep living in my mothers home after my brother passing?
So the house is still in your mothers name? Yes, you'll need to go to court and put the house into probate. just let her stay there while you do this. The house will be awarded to the next of kin. It will either be her brothers or sisters or her children. The judge will decide. NOTHING can be done with the house (selling it for instance) until the judge has ruled on the probate case. The house is not automatically hers just because she lived there. What if she was actually a renter? Who paid rent to your Mom? She doesn't have any right to the house. Let the courts decide. Good luck! (and get a living trust put together for yourselves so this can't happen to you. A living trust gives exact instruction on what to do with all your assets)
Off to probate court you go, which is what you should have done 2 1/2 years ago. Hire an attorney that specializes in estates and have him take it to the court to get the property distributed correctly.





ps- a living will is for when you're living, she didn't leave a last will and testement. So each state has rules in place for how the property assets are distributed, your brother's share will pass to his wife and children, but it won't be the whole house, the court will sell it or make her buy everyone else's shares so she can keep it.
I notice you don't mention your Dad, so I am going to assume your Mom owed the home in her name only at death. If so, you and your brother (and any other brothers and sisters) became equal owners in the house when she died without a will. Now that your brother has died, his spouse probably as ';homestead rights'; to stay on the property, though these very from state to state, and in some states she will have inherited all of your brother's interest. In short, she probably owns part of the house and so do you. You will need an attorney, or at least a trusted friend in the real estate business to sort this out.
no she does not have a legal right to stay in the house, she has an opinionated right to stay in the house. she believes that since she has been living there for 8 years she has no other means to find another home. however if you want her out and she has a job to support herself then you could ask her to find an apartment or start charging her rent for staying in a house that is not rightfully hers.
I'm sure you can get her out somehow. Even most living wills clearly establish that their property only be given to their children and exclude the spouse in case they divorce in the future. Perhaps citing this, you can get her removed somehow.
This is a probate court issue and they usually divide the estate evenly between the live blood relative Get a lawyer and settle the estate. The legal fees will be can be paid back out of the estate to the person who paid for them or out of estate if there is any cash in the estate.