mother's estranged husband

[Sampson1]

My mother recently passed away and we discovered she was married to a man who has been estranged over 6 years and no one knows his whereabouts. There is no will

1. Is he legally entitled to portion of estate? if so what happens if he cannot be located? If he is located can it be contested since he has not been heard from in over 6 years?


2. There was no will, however, there was a final divorce decree (between my mother and father) which stated that my mother would by last will and testament bequeath the house to my sister. If the estranged husband should be located and tries to claim the house would him or sister have the legal right to it?

 

[army judge]

My mother recently passed away and we discovered she was married to a man who has been estranged over 6 years and no one knows his whereabouts. There is no will

I am sorry to hear of your loss. May God comfort you and your family as you grieve mom's passing.

1. Is he legally entitled to portion of estate? if so what happens if he cannot be located? If he is located can it be contested since he has not been heard from in over 6 years?

Yes, he's entitled to all of her estate, or perhaps a portion.

Here's the law of intestacy in your state:

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2105.06

You might want to discuss yoru options with a local attorney.

2. There was no will, however, there was a final divorce decree (between my mother and father) which stated that my mother would by last will and testament bequeath the house to my sister. If the estranged husband should be located and tries to claim the house would him or sister have the legal right to it?

Here, once more is the law of intestacy in OHIO:

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2105.06

You really need to have her estate probated.
The probate judge will make efforts to contact her spouse.
Your lawyer will also assist in that effort.

Your answer in Ohio isn't yes or no, it depends.

It depends on many things.

The divorce decree is probably meaningless, but that will be decided by the probate court.
If you try to take a shortcut, he could show up in 3 or 4 months and throw a big monkey wrench in everything.

 

[disagreeable]

As I read it, this subsection applies:

(C) If there is a spouse and one child of the decedent or the child's lineal descendants surviving and the surviving spouse is not the natural or adoptive parent of the decedent's child, the first twenty thousand dollars plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate to the spouse and the remainder to the child or the child's lineal descendants, per stirpes;

Someone needs to file to become executor and with the courts approval take action to distribute the estate. It appears unless there is a bunch of liquid assets, the home will need to be sold and the spouses portion put into keeping for him.