Will You Be Intestate? Find Out How To Avoid That Status

Law Blog

Dealing with the death of a loved one can be one of the most difficult things most people ever do. You can make it easier on the ones you leave behind by planning ahead and making out a will. You don't need to have a large estate to need a will, and you will be doing your family a big favor by taking care of this so that they don't have to deal with what happens when you die intestate. Read on to learn more.

When there is no will

The relationship between a will and probate is somewhat confusing to some, and there is the thought that if you don't leave a will, you can just skip the entire probate process. Probate is about more than just a will, and having or not having a will is irrelevant.

Probate proceeds when the estate is worth a certain minimum amount of money and no debts are owed, so most everyone will need to have their estates probated no matter what. Whether there is a will that cannot be found, or if it is assumed that there was no will, the state has ways of dealing with an estate using the probate process.

Who will control your estate?

When you make out a will you will be appointing someone to oversee the provisions of the will after you die. This person should be a trusted friend or loved one, and they will come to be known as the personal representative or the executor after you die. It is not the job of the personal representative to make decisions about your estate when it comes to inheritances; it is their job to make sure that your wishes are carried out.

In the absence of a will, the county probate court will appoint someone to oversee your estate for you. If you wish to make sure that someone specific is trusted to this task, you must do so with a will. Each state follows its own rules about who gets appointed, but it is usually a surviving spouse, then the oldest adult child, if the spouse is dead.

Intestate succession

The law deals with the estates of those who die intestate by using something called succession. With succession, the estate is passed along to a certain list of people.

The entire estate will go to the first in line; however; there is no divvying up of the estate with some going to one person and some going to another. The spouse is always at the top of the succession ladder with each child inheriting equal portions if the spouse is dead. If there are no children then almost any blood relative is contacted one by one until a beneficiary is found.

Speak with an estate attorney such as one found through Skeen Law Offices so that estate succession can be avoided with your estate.

 

Share

16 June 2018

Car Accident Clues

It can be hard to know what to do to protect yourself legally in the immediate aftermath of a car accident. You’re liable to be disoriented or in shock, you may be injured, and you’re surely worried about your passenger or the other driver. At least, that’s how I felt. The thing is, the things you say and do in the immediate aftermath of an accident may affect a legal case later. Depending on who’s at fault and what the laws are in your state, you may want to sue the other driver for damages, or you may find yourself being sued. My blog is designed to give you tips for a car accident lawsuit, no matter which side you find yourself on.