Dying without a will

[pelder]

What is the name of your state? Colorado
My Mother in law passed away without a will, she owned several properties and had a VERY large 401k. Instead of a will she put beneficiaries on everything and added a person to the titles of each of her properties. Can a person not named as a beneficarie or not put on a title contest this? if benficaries are named do we have to go through probate?

 

[justalayman]

insurance, paid on death or transfer on death accounts and alll the like pass outside of probate if it is needed to probate an estate.

As to property; it depends HOW it is titled, not just to whom it is titled. If it is jointly held, the survivor calims full title. If is is held as tenants in common, the deceaseds share is distributed be the laws of intestate succession.

as to being able to contest any of it; you can attempt to fight it on the grounds of the transfer itself being improper but other than that, no.

I understand Colorado has simplified their probate procedure and most estates are not even court supervised. Youshould do a bit of research on probate in Colorado.

do not forget that whatever estate is left needs to be used to pay estate bills and any taxes of the deceased or estate.