Who has the rights to the contents to an inherited house and its contents?
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Who has the rights to the contents to an inherited house and its contents?
I and a few other family members inherited a house from my grandfather once his wife my step grandmother passed away. The step grandmother’s children had legal use of the house for 6 months after her death in order to clear her belongings out, but where not to inherit the house. We let them have 6 additional months. After 1 year of my step grandmother’s passing, her family would not give us keys to the house. We had a locksmith come out and change the locks, proving our ownership with the Will. Now, they are trying to sue us for taking china out of the house. They have been in the house and found we had cleared items out because they are friends with an uncle one of the co-owners. Can legally sue us over this? They had 1 year to clear items out of the home and did not clear everything. We are the legal owners of the house and it’s contents, including the china.
Asked on October 18, 2012 under Estate Planning, Louisiana
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Generally speaking, inheriting a home means the property - the real property - and the structure. It does not include the contents which are personal property. It could include the contents if the Will so states. But here you have many issues going on. You let them stay and you acknowledged that they owned the contents in the first place or at least some of them. I think that you should take a deep breath and try and work this out. Otherwise you will be getting in to a lawsuit to evict. Good luck.
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