Father died last year; how do I find his assets?
My father died last July 2006. He was born in Brazil, but was a citizen of the U.S. and was a doctor here for 35 years. He retired, remarried, and moved back to Brazil in 1993. He died without a will. My stepmother claims that he died with no money. I believe he did have a significant amount of money, but have no way of proving it. I do not want to take legal action against my stepmother unless there are enough assets to make the process worthwhile. Is there any way I can verify whether he had bank accounts or investments (stocks and/or mutual funds) in the U.S. Also, are there ways to check for assets in other countries? I believe he had bank accounts in Brazil and Portugal.
Any help would be much appreciated.