Question about life estates?

My understanding is that a "Life Estate" terminates when the person dies and reverts totally back to your wife's family. The second wife has no right to will any of the property or personal property belonging to your father-in-laws estate.....it reverts back to your wife and her siblings.

I would take possession of the house, change the locks on the doors and move all the furnishings to a self-storage location.

If you have legal counsel, you should be consulting with them regarding the probate and the distribution of your wife's father estate. No answer given on Yahoo! Answers should be construed as legal advice.

In response to your question: The second wife had a life estate, which allowed the the right to use and occupy the property for the term of her natural life. Once she died, her interest terminated. Any children she had could not inherit under the estate unless there was a new will or codical (amendment) to the original will granting them rights prior to the wife's father's death. Therefore, NO ONE, especially her children can remove ANYTHING from the home until the will is probated under Florida law. You need to get the will submitted to probate at your earliest possible convenience, so that there is an inventory of the property, real and personal. If anything has been found to have been removed, the responsible heir will be liable to the estate, and be subject to penalties and fines.

Your facts are a little unclear.

The person or persons who get the home are as stipulated in the will. This should have been taken care of at the time father passed away. For example, if the will stated "House goes to Joe and Bob, with life estate reserved for my wife," then the home is now Joe and Bob's.

If the children of the father get all household furniture, then they should go to the house and get all the furniture. What are they waiting for?

Read the original will!! If the will did not bestow the contents of the house (personal property), why wasn't it claimed by the heirs? My guess is that it was, and it was bestowed to the second wife along with the life estate to the real property. The real estate if your wife's and her siblings, the other stuff is marital property, and belongs to the survivor (or her heirs).

Consult an attorney NOW.