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Tags: finance, estate plan trusts, dying without a wil
 When a person dies (the decedent) a major concern for those left behind is how to distribute the dead person’s property, or estate to the proper beneficiaries. The laws that regulate such distributions have developed to govern how a decedent's personal and real property is distributed to their heirs. Since the consequences of who gets what after someone dies are so important, there is a good body of statutory and case law relating to this subject.
Dying without a will occurs regularly despite the ease of creating wills as part of a good estate plan. Understanding the intestate law may give you the push to make a will if you haven’t done so. When you die without leaving a last will and testament, you are said to have died intestate.
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In such a case, your estate—which is the total market value of all your assets less any debts—is distributed according to the intestacy laws of the state where you lived. The US federal government left the creation of these laws largely up to the individual states. Consequently, the intestate law and judicial decisions vary from one state to another.
What an intestate law does is to create a will for you if you died without one. And even if you created a last will and testament, when you die it is still possible for you to have died partially intestate. Generally, while all states try to follow your intentions as stated in your will, if a gift in the will is invalid for some reason, or if the terms of the will simply do not cover all of your assets, then with regards to those affected assets, it will then be distributed in accordance with your state’s intestate law.
Your state's intestate law will make assumptions about how they think you would have wanted to leave your property to your beneficiaries. While some of these assumptions may be in accordance with what you would have done had you made a will, others may result in the distribution of property in a manner far different from what you would have done.
The intestate law will determine who the heirs will be who will inherit your property and how said property will be divided among them. However, the court cannot determine who will receive what specific items of property. So if you have three children, the court may declare that each of your children will each get a third of your estate, but it will not say if one child will get the grand piano, or if another one will get all the jewelry.
The courts assume that if people are closely related to you, the more likely you would be leaving them something once you passed away. Generally, an intestate law will look at a beneficiary’s blood relation with you. They would also require that your heirs at least survive you by a certain amount of time.
Depending on the jurisdiction this rights of survivorship time may be in minutes, hours, days, or even months. These usually kick in if, for example, you and several members of your immediate family are killed at or about the same time. Generally, an intestate law is patterned after the common law of descent.
Usually, your estate would first go to your spouse, if not then to your children and their descendants. If there are no descendants, the distribution would then go up the family tree to your parents, if not then to your siblings and their descendants. In extreme situations it goes far back as your grandparents and if not then to your parents' siblings, and their descendants.
Finally, if no identifiable heirs are found, then your estate escheats to the state. If you want to distribute your property differently than your state's intestacy distribution plan then make a will.
About the author
The author of this article Rick Goldfeller is a successful underground Financial Analyst who has been advising and coaching individuals for many years. Rick recently published a book on how to manage your money and attract Wealth and Financial Freedom. More info on his Finance Planning course is available HERE.
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