VIC Right of inheritance

[Bluemoon]

My brother and his wife were spouses for 32 years and owned a house in Melbourne. My brother passed away in 1995 and is survived by his wife. They do not have any children or surviving parents. Both spouses have siblings.

My deceased brother hasn’t left a will, and at this point, both spouses are still registered as proprietors of the house.

Who is eligible to inherit the house after my brother’s wife death, presumed no will is found and both spouses are still registered proprietors?

In such case, do I as a brother have any right of inheritance over the house?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Perp]

The short answer is no.

If they owned the property as joint tenants, as is the more common scenario with spouses, then she automatically became sole owner of the property when he died.

If they owned the property as tenants-in-common, with separate % ownership that they could bequeath separately, the answer would be still be no, as your brother died intestate and under the Administration and Probation Act 1958 s 51, spouses surviving an intestate person with no issue (children) inherit the entire estate.

Your brother's estate should have been administered in the months following his death, part of which would involve filing the paperwork with the titles office to reflect your sister-in-law as sole owner.

If your brother's name appears on the title still, then clearly that wasn't done. That only means that the executor/administrator of your sister-in-law's estate will have an administrative mess trying to sort it out, but it won't change the result.