Taralovesfrank said:
What is the name of your state?TN....My mom died 2 years ago. Her will left everything to me & my sister(who lives in FL). We had started handling her affairs when all of a sudden, her will came up missing. We have good reason to believe that her husband ( who is not our father) stole the will. My mother made it very clear that he was to get nothing before she died. My sister is worried that if we probate the will that the husband could end up getting her estate. I thought that in TN that the children inherited the estate if there was no will. Could you please let me know what we shuld expect. Also, how much is the average cost to probate a will?
Here is information below on what happens when no one has a will in TN. If the will cannot be produced, these are the laws that apply.
You need to ask a TN attorney to guide you in this matter. Even if you found the will, it may be too late to admit it into probate.
http://www.tba.org/LawBytes/T15_2405.html
http://www.finance.cch.com/pops/c50s10d190_TN.asp
Tennessee Intestate Succession Laws
If any part of a Tennessee decedent's estate is not effectively disposed of by will, the intestate share will be distributed in the following order and manner:
1. Surviving spouse. A surviving spouse is generally first in line to get any assets from the intestate estate, including both separate property and the one-half of community property that belongs to the decedent. However, the amount a surviving spouse is entitled to varies as follows:
* If there is no surviving issue (e.g., child or grandchild) of decedent, the surviving spouse is entitled to the entire intestate estate.
* If there are surviving issue of the decedent, the surviving spouse is entitled to the greater of one-third or a child's share of the entire intestate estate.
2. Heirs other than surviving spouse. Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse as indicated above, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes as follows to:
1. Decedent's issue. If they are all of the same degree of kinship to the decedent they take equally, but if of unequal degree, then those of more remote degree take by per stirpes representation.
2. Decedent's parent or parents equally.
3. Decedent's brothers and sisters and the issue of each deceased brother and sister by per stirpes representation. If there is no surviving brother or sister, the issue of brothers and sisters take by per stirpes representation.
4. If none of the above relatives are available, but the decedent is survived by one or more grandparents or issue of grandparents, half of the estate passes to the paternal grandparents if both survive, or to the surviving paternal grandparent or to the issue of the paternal grandparents if both are deceased. Such issue take equally if they are all of the same degree of kinship to the decedent and, if of unequal degree those of more remote degree take by per stirpes representation. The other half passes to the maternal relatives in the same manner. If there is no surviving grandparent or issue of grandparent on either the paternal or maternal side, the entire estate passes to the relatives on the other side in the same manner as the half.
3. State of Tennessee. If there is no taker under any of the above provisions, the intestate estate passes to the state of Tennessee.
Tennessee Intestate Succession Law Fun Facts
* Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.
* Relatives of the decedent conceived before his death but born thereafter inherit as if they had been born in the lifetime of the decedent (provided the new-born lives at least 120 hours after birth).
* Any person who fails to survive the decedent by 120 hours is deemed to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of intestate succession (which means that the person generally doesn't get a share of the decedent's estate). If it cannot be established by clear and convincing evidence that the person who would otherwise be an heir has survived the decedent by 120 hours, it is considered that the person failed to survive for the required period. However, these rules don't apply if the end result is that the state of Tennessee gets the intestate estate.
* Tennessee's intestate succession laws can be found in Title 31 of the Tennessee Code.
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