Whomever is issued the letters of authority from the probate court. It could be either way.
The state will have an intestacy law. It will specify the distribution of any assets remaining after the debts are resolved.
It goes into his estate. That will then be handled per the jurisdiction's intestacy law. Siblings and parents are next in line.
The State
Assuming the brother who died with a will was unmarried and had no children, and assuming his beneficiary brother predeceased him, his estate would pass to the children of his siblings. If he had only one brother then his brother's children would inherit his estate.
Yes, they have the ability to charge rent. It is their responsibility to maintain the assets of the estate.
It will be distributed according to the intestacy laws of the state. In most cases there isn't an issue with that, as the children will inherit. And the children can open an estate regardless if there is a will or not.
Every state has laws that determine the distribution of a decedent's property when there is no will so you have to check that state's laws. But generally, spouses and descendants will take first. If there are no spouse and no children and no children of predeceased children, then the estate goes up the line to the parents. If there are no parents the estate goes to the decedent's siblings in equal shares. If there are some living children and some predeceased children, then the children of that predeceased child takes the share that the predeceased child would have taken.
As long as the children are adults and there is no surviving spouse the children would qualify to probate the estate. If there was no will one must petition to be appointed the administrator of the estate. You should consult with an attorney who specializes in probate law in your area.
Their share becomes a part of their estate.
They can be sued.
The exact distribution depends on the state you are in but when a person dies without a will and direct decendents the estate still goes through probate. Generally probate distributes the estate (after taxes) to the wife and children, the parents (of the deceased), the siblings, the nephew and nieces and then to more remote relatives such as cousins, etc. If there is no relatives to distribute to and no will then the estate goes to the state.
The estate is the beneficiary of a Wrongful Death action. The parents and/or siblings would inherit from the estate.
Petition the court to open the estate. They can ask that one of the children be appointed as the executor. The court will issue a letter of authorization to the executor to inventory and clear out the estate.