I would like to know if my brother and I have any claim on the estate of our stepmother, who died two years ago. She had one daughter (our half-sister) who kept everything and is now talking of selling the house. Will we have any claim on it?
I take it your father is no longer alive, and that neither he nor your stepmother made a will. If your father and your stepmother owned the house in joint names, it will have passed to your stepmother when he died. On her death her property goes to her issue – her daughter – and no-one else is entitled to a share. If your stepmother had died before your father, you and your brother would have shared your inheritance with your half-sister. I’m afraid this can happen if people who remarry don’t make a will.