Who has the rights to my fiances things? 8 Answers as of October 18, 2011

Unless he had a will to the contrary, you have no rights to "his stuff." You may, however, have an interest in the things you acquired together.

If you were not her spouse, if you were not on title to any of the property and if she did not have a will giving it to you, it belongs to the next of kin, her mother.

Sadly, you don't have inheritance rights to his property, unless he left it to you in a Will or by beneficiary designation. You don't claim that you were married, so you probably could not establish a Common Law marriage that would give you inheritance rights. So on personal property that was his and his alone, it would go to the heirs of his estate. Having said that, I would claim where I could legitimately do so, what of that property was a gift to you from him during his life, what did you pay some or most or all the cost of, and what was purchased by him for you, in contemplation of and in consideration of your agreement to marriage, and which of those things was simply your property to start with. I suspect if you look at it carefully that way, you will, by and large, be able to claim ownership of those items and require his mother to take action to prove otherwise. Finally, for anything else you may be able to prove he owed you for, file a claim against his estate.

The beneficiaries under his will if he has one have the right to his stuff. If he didn't have a will and was not married at the time of his death (being engaged doesn't count for this purpose), his assets would go in the following order of priority: 1) his issue (descendants), 2) his parents, 3) his siblings and their descendants, and so on. You, however, could dispute which things are his as opposed to yours. If you and he ever stayed together in a state that recognizes common law marriages and held yourselves out as married (by checking into a hotel as married or something similar) there is case law that doing so creates a valid marriage.

The things that you jointly own with your fiancé are yours to the extent that you contributed to their purchase; your fiancé’s interests in these things, together with all of his things, are now part of his estate. If he had a will, they pass according to his will; if not, they pass according to statute, to his children or, if he had none, to his parents. So, yes, if he had no children his mother has an interest in his things. However, it sounds like there are real questions about what was his, what is yours, and what you shared which is now partly yours. His mother should not feel she can just roll up and tear your home apart, though. She needs to be reasonable. If there is real property, or substantial value in the personal property, a probate should be opened and you should consult a lawyer about whether you want to petition to open the probate.

The items should be collected by the personal representative of his estate. Did he have a Will? If so, then his personal representative would be the person he selected. If not, then his mother and father are his beneficiaries. One of them may need to be appointed by the court, depending upon the value of his estate. If you purchased items together where you split the cost, then you might be able to keep the items or buy out his interest. If he paid for the items, then his mother and father would be his beneficiaries would ultimately receive the assets.

First, please let me offer my condolences. It is hard enough to deal with the loss of a loved one without having to deal with arguing with their family members. My first question to you would be, did your fianc have a Will? If he did, who did he leave his assets to? If he did not, the state of Florida decides who his assets go to (and his parents would be first in line to acquire those assets). However, if you can show that you purchased the assets you acquired together, then she most likely cannot take those assets.

Since you were not legally married you would not be considered an heir of the estate. If you bought the stuff tighter with both of your money, then there is an argument that it was joint property owned by both of you. But assets that are titled (i.e. cars, bank accounts, etc), would go to her heirs and you would have to be married. Alabama does recognize common law marriage so that is an argument if there are any estate assets.