[nymwin]

My mother passed away in 1997 and my step-father passed away just a few months ago(April 2014). When my mother passed away, it was 7 children from her and she married my step-father when we were young. My mother left a will but when she died the children couldn't find it where she told us she left it (We actually saw the envelope she had the will in and she put it in her bible). So, my step-father take everything since it wasn't there when we all looked for it. Now, that he passed away and his only son is deceased also, he left no will, is the step-children which he told us that we would get everything even though no will is to be found? Or will his brother have all the rights of everything?

[Wondergirl]

Did he legally adopt the children?

[smoothy]

It would also help to know what state and country this is as laws can vary significantly.

[ma0641]

The state where you are located will most likely decide since there is no will. Perfect example of why people need a recorded will.

[Fr_Chuck]

I can not say, the brother will get it, if the son, had children they may have claim

In the US, step children have no legal claim, without a will. So if there is no will, the step children will not get anything. Who gets it, will depend on location and who else is related

[ScottGem]

As noted any question on law needs to include your general locale as laws vary by area.

My mother left a will but when she died the children couldn't find it where she told us she left it ... So, my step-father take everything since it wasn't there when we all looked for it.

This may not have been correct. Generally, when someone dies intestate, the estate is split between surviving spouse and offspring. I suspect, your mother's estate was never probated and your step father just took control of everything. It is also probably too late to go back and redo it.

You need to consult an attorney, because this can get complicated now. A big factor here is how the assets are titled. For example, lets say they jointly owned a house and he never transferred the house into his name alone. It is possible her children could now make a claim against that house.

How big is the estate? What is in it that her children want? We can give you some direction but you will need an attorney to actually do the work.

[AK lawyer]

Also, depending on the jurisdiction, it may be possible to establish the lost will, if the contents of it can be proven by extrinsic evidence.

OP indicates that they found an empty envelope in a bible, apparently which had once contained a will. Did this envelope perhaps have on it a return address from the attorney who prepared it? Or can OP use other means (fingerprints, saliva for DNA) to determine the identity of the scrivener? Such investigation might be an avenue of inquiry.

[ebaines]

In most states if the mother died without a will (as the step father claimed) the mother's estate would be split 50% to her husband and 50% to the children, to be split 7 ways. However, as already noted we need to know what state this occurred in to verify that. Your plan to action here would be to contest te way that the step dad took everything.

As for what happens to the step-father's estate now that he has passed - again, it depends on the state, but in general if his own son is deceased it would depend on what other blood relatives of his there are - did the dead son have any children of his own (grandchildren of the step-dad); did the step-dad have any siblings? Aunts or uncles? In general in absence of a will none of the step dad's estate would go to his step children.