I spend most of my time figuring out what options may be in an individual’s or a family’s best interest for estate planning purposes. I talk to clients about the property they own, what their lifetime goals are, and what they would like to see happen to their assets when they are no longer around. It’s no secret, I discuss what an estate plan does and why one is needed all the time. What I don’t usually do is discuss what happens without a Will or other estate plan in place. Of course, like any good legal question, the only real truthful answer is, it depends.
When someone dies without a Will, the laws of the state in which you live will provide the guide for how your estate will be distributed. These laws are called intestacy laws and differ from state to state so you should find out more about the laws in your state for the most accurate answer.
That said, most states will provide the spouse of a decedent with approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the assets, while the rest is split among the decedent’s children. If the decedent is not married or does not have children, most intestacy laws will then leave assets to the decedent’s parents, siblings, grandparents, other extended family such as uncles and cousins, and then finally to the state if no beneficiaries can be found. The order differs by state along with the shares they are poised to take but generally states seek to give your dependents and immediate family first priority.
It gets even trickier when a decedent owns property in more than one state because then you must contend with multiple sets of intestacy laws and the various sets of beneficiaries that each state sets out in their own heirarchical order. You may not care what happens to your assets when you die but most people would like to be sure that the ones they love most get whatever they leave behind. At the very least you should discuss with your family what planning they may have done because inadvertently leaving your estate to your parents or another family member may do their own estate plan more harm than good.
If you have questions about your estate or how best to provide for your family be sure to speak with an estate planning professional. They can provide you with specific answers to your situation and some guidance as to how you might wish to proceed.
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