To-do list when a family member dies with no will?

[ellipses84]

DH had a biologically close but somewhat estranged relative pass away unexpectedly. They have no will and the relative they were closest to who was listed as the beneficiary on their work policies also passed away a few months ago, which means DH and his brothers are the next of kin. DH is traveling to the very remote town where they lived to handle arrangements, but it’s not a place that would be easy to travel back to. We really have no idea what they would have wanted but we have a plan for funeral arrangements which their workplace has offered to pay for. We do have an SSN #, all the info needed for the death certificate, and have talked to their boss, the funeral home, the coroner, police, the work related benefits rep., landlord, etc.

DH is kind of reeling from all of it and his brothers definitely expect him to handle it. He was very close to the mutual relative who passed and did spend time with this relative when that happened, so they weren’t on bad terms, he just doesn’t feel like he knows them well. Both died in tragic accidents so he’s a little in shock.

Dh has a limited time to be there and do all the paperwork, clean out his house, etc. I want to give DH a list of things to do while he’s there to help him focus, but all I can really think of is to grab his bills to see what accounts are set up in his name so I can help him follow up on it later. We’ll donate the majority of the stuff in the house except valuables.

We think there may be a lot of hunting stuff like guns and knives that we don’t know what to do with. DH is flying the majority of the way. Can we ship weapons closer to us to store, or donate them somewhere, to avoid going back to the town in the future?

We have a relative who is an estate attorney in our state (but he’s out of the country right now so I can’t ask him questions). Probate seems pretty straightforward there and I know he would handle it for us, but would it be better to talk to an attorney in that state?

Any other advice or things we need to do?

[dr.girlfriend]

So sorry about your husband's losses. Sounds like you've got a lot of the bases covered. I wonder if you can turn the house over to someone who can deal with the clean-up and list it for sale, etc. That must be a service, right? I also wonder if you can surrender the weapons to the local police station.

[Velar Fricative]

I'm sorry about his losses. I don't have advice except to say that when I read the part about the weapons, I'd recommend doing some extra research on options since transport laws vary from state to state.

[ellipses84]

May 10, 2019 13:44:57 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

So sorry about your husband's losses. Sounds like you've got a lot of the bases covered. I wonder if you can turn the house over to someone who can deal with the clean-up and list it for sale, etc. That must be a service, right? I also wonder if you can surrender the weapons to the local police station.

I wondered about the police station, too. We don’t really want any guns. The house was a rental so we only need to clear out personal belongings and the landlord offered to help with it. They may possibly own other property in other states we don’t know about (and if they do, it may be vacant but contain more personal belongings or important paperwork). We are wondering if there’s a way we can pull their credit report just to see what accounts are on it and if there’s other properties listed.

[mich1]

May 10, 2019 12:51:30 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

We think there may be a lot of hunting stuff like guns and knives that we don’t know what to do with. DH is flying the majority of the way. Can we ship weapons closer to us to store, or donate them somewhere, to avoid going back to the town in the future?

If you PM me, I can tell you how you can ship transport weapons.  There are certain states where it is very difficult, if not impossible to travel firearms and you would need another option.  

When my dad died, he bequeathed my husband a couple of his rifles and we flew back with them.  Once you get them home, you can decide what to do with them.....whether it is to turn them over to an authority, or to sell them legally.  Until you know what you are dealing with, you don’t want to do anything in haste.

[mcsangel2]

First, you need to report the death to the Social Security Administration (if a funeral home hasn't already done so). Then, you need to get several copies of the death certificate. When you have it, he needs to make an appointment to be seen at probate court so he can be appointed the legal representative of the estate and get a letter stamped by a judge saying so. When you have that letter, he will be able to do things like put in a forwarding order at the post office, close the bank account, and talk to credit card companies and things. Last thing is to do the 2019 final taxes, next year.

[gt7301b]

I know the common answer is to see a lawyer, but in this case I think it is really good advice.  My personal preference would be a lawyer who is local to the area, there might be things they could assist with that would save you a trip to the area.

I'm not sure how long your DH will be in the area, but logistically he may not be able to do it in one visit.  I know when I was executor I needed copies of the death certificate to start the probate process and I didn't get the death certificate for several weeks after the paperwork was filed.  I also needed the probate documents to close accounts and such.

I'm sorry for your husband's loss.

[ellipses84]

Thanks everyone. There’s definitely a few things you mentioned we hadn’t really been thinking about. DH talked to our lawyer relative and a lawyer in the other state who he is going to meet with in person. We also have someone to advise us on what to do with guns once he finds out what is there. DH was trained with military and hunting weapons, he just doesn’t like them/doesn’t own them.

[ellipses84]

mich1 I’ll pm you.