Single lady Dying without a Will - leaving assets

[cluelessgirl]

Illinois

I am a 35 year old woman. I have never been married and I don't have any kids. I live with my parents and my brother, who is 34 years old. I want to give everything to them if I die.

If I died without a will, what will happen to my assets? Does it automatically go to them because they are my only and closest relatives? Will the law automatically consider them to be my heirs?

thanks for any advice

 

[cyjeff]

I cannot stress enough the necessity of a will.

You can even do most of it yourself using one of the available internet legal forms sites.

If you want specific things to happen when you die, you need to get that written down.

 

[anteater]

If you want to be certain, do as cyjeff suggests.

But, if you don't make a will and pass away, with no surviving spouse and no descendants, your parents and siblings would share your estate in equal shares.

(755 ILCS 5/2‑1) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 2‑1)
Sec. 2‑1. Rules of descent and distribution.
....
(d) If there is no surviving spouse or descendant but a parent, brother, sister or descendant of a brother or sister of the decedent: the entire estate to the parents, brothers and sisters of the decedent in equal parts, allowing to the surviving parent if one is dead a double portion and to the descendants of a deceased brother or sister per stirpes the portion which the deceased brother or sister would have taken if living.

 

[cluelessgirl]

thanks anteater!

Would my parents and my brother need to go to court to get my assets changed to their names? Or is the transfer automatic?

thanks again.

 

[anteater]

No, it is not automatic.

But, it might not be necessary to have a full-blown probate administration of your estate. Illinois has a procedure for dealing with small estates through use of an affidavit that is simply filed with the court. Without searching it, I think that the affidavit process is available for estates valued at less than $100,000. Also, without searching, I don't believe real estate can be transferred through the affidavit.

There are also other options - like naming a beneficiary on your financial accounts, IRA's, 401K, etc. An account with a named beneficiary passes to the beneficiary by operation of the contract you have with the financial institution. The downside is that, as your circumstances change, you may forget that you have designated those beneficiaries and forget to change them.

 

[FlyingRon]

Will nor not, they will need to open probate to get the assets transfered.