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No will

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B

bandj

Guest
I have an uncle in Wyoming who is very ill. He does NOT believe in wills. He does have a lot of property and quite a bit of money (no power of attorney either) He has 2 adult children. What will happen when he passes away? Thank you.
 


ALawyer

Senior Member
After they carry him off and bury him, the estate he left behind has to be divided.

Absent a Will, who gets it (after payment of his debts, and taxes) in large part depends on how he held title to his property.

If he held personal property (such as stock, mutual funds, bonds, bank accounts, etc.) in his own name the laws of his home state (Wyoming) govern who gets his personal property; the laws of the location of the real estate determine who gets the real estate in that state, so if he held land in Wyoming, and Montana and a vacation home in Florida, there could be 3 different results from the 3 probates.

Most state laws divide property among a surviving spouse and one's kids, and children of deceased kids. Here it sounds as if there is not spouse and there were only 2 kids so each gets 50% of all the property held in his own name.

If held proerty in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, the surviving joint tenants would get the property held in joint name.

The named beneficiaries of any life insurance, 401k, IRA and similar plans get the assets in those plans. If there were no beneficiaries, then the value is distributed per the basic estate.

The Government collects Federal estate tax starting at 37%on any value over $675,000 that passes to anyone but a spouse, so if he has a large estate he'll be making Uncle Sam a beneficiary; he may be able to avoid or reduce estate taxes with some estate planning if that's an issue.

One or both kids will seek in probate court to become Aministrator or Personal Representative of the estate. There will be fees to pay to the lawyers who help the kids handle the estate and the costs and fees will likely be far higher than if he had a Will. For example, a surety bond may be required and the court will have power to exercise extra control. (Sometimes the probate judge may even appoints cronies and party faithful as appraisers or special masters or guardians, and they also charge fees and create delays.)

Should the kids get into a dispute over who gets what, or whether to sell or hold certain property, or should anyone who might have a claim he could effectively have cut off in the Will does bring a claim against the estate, then expenses can go way up. If he wants to leave something for the grandkids, he won't be able to do that without some estate planning.

In short having a Will is not like believing, or not believing, in the Almighty. It is a roadmap to reduce the burden on those one leaves behind. When properly crafted, a Will as part of an estate plan should make it easier for the family to carry out one's wishes, significantly reduce costs, speed up the proces, eliminate avoidable taxes, and help the family remain together without corrosive jealousy is the deceased's direction, not a survivors.



[Edited by ALawyer on 01-28-2001 at 05:29 PM]
 

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