It may all belong to your sister if she was a Joint Owner with Rights of Survivorship in Oklahoma. It doesn’t matter if there is no Will. In Oklahoma, probate is necessary both when there is a Will and when there is not – BUT ONLY if your mother owned property in her own name alone.
You can go to the courthouse (or call if you are not local) and get a copy of the deed to your mother’s house. This is not expensive but, if you aren’t local, expect to pay for mailing in addition to the copy fee which is around $10. Then you will see if the property was titled jointly in your mom’s and sister’s names. If your mother titled everything she owned Joint with Rights of Survivorship with your sister and was in her right mind when she did it, there is literally nothing you can do.
If your mother was not in her right mind at the time the joint deed was signed you may have a cause of action. If the property was titled as Tenants in Common or was not a joint title, you may want to file for probate. In the Oklahoma probate process you, as her child, would be considered a legitimate heir to any property titled in only your mother’s name.
To be sure it is all done correctly you should hire the best Oklahoma probate lawyer you can afford. This will also help to avoid emotion-charged difficulties between you and your sister.
To Your Success,
Gale Allison, Principal AttorneyAllison Firm, PLLChttp://www.theallisonfirm.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/galeallison.com
Answered on Oct 10th, 2012 at 12:17 PM