Great Aunt died - No Will - No spouse or children in PA

[Tink11464]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

Thank you in advance for your assistance. In March 2017 a great Aunt passed away - she never married, nor had any children. She was the last sibling of my grandfather. She left behind nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, and great-greats. She apparently passed away leaving no will. One of the nieces (my aunt) had her attorney send out letters requesting that we sign off allowing her to be the Administratix of my Aunt's estate. How does an estate get divided when there is no will? Thanks you again - Lisa

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

Thank you in advance for your assistance. In March 2017 a great Aunt passed away - she never married, nor had any children. She was the last sibling of my grandfather. She left behind nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, and great-greats. She apparently passed away leaving no will. One of the nieces (my aunt) had her attorney send out letters requesting that we sign off allowing her to be the Administratix of my Aunt's estate. How does an estate get divided when there is no will? Thanks you again - Lisa

The process is called intestate succession. See the site below for all of the laws. Feel free to ask questions after reviewing...

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/20/00.021..HTM

 

[Tink11464]

Thank you Zigner - If I am reading this correctly - the estate would be divided equally among the nieces and nephews only. Not to great-nieces and great-nephews and so on. Is that right? I am relaying this info to quite a few others and wanted to make sure I read that right.

 

[Zigner]

Thank you Zigner - If I am reading this correctly - the estate would be divided equally among the nieces and nephews only. Not to great-nieces and great-nephews and so on. Is that right? I am relaying this info to quite a few others and wanted to make sure I read that right.

It's not necessarily quite that simple. I would suggest that you let these other people know where the information is and let them research it on their own in order to form their own opinions. You (and they) should seek the assistance of an attorney if things are not clear to you.

 

[Tink11464]

Thank you!!

 

[Zigner]

Thank you!!

You're welcome - best of luck to you and your family.

 

[Tink11464]

Okayyy - - I think I may understand - - to make it easy to ask - I am changing the number of descendants (it's a large family). If Aunt Pat had 6 nieces and nephews, the estate would be divided equally among them. Should one of those nieces or nephews have passed away - their share would be divided among THEIR children equally. Am I right?

 

[HRZ]

Probaby correct but as Zigner suggests...send/link everyone a copy of PA code and let them read it .

PS PA imposes a nasty little interhitance tax but a nice incentive to pay it early ...be sure it gets paid early .

Incidentially this puts aunt in charge and she and her pick of attorney get paid to do this ...if for some reason you don't think this is a smart choice ..you best get a different one on platter ASAP . IT should be rather mechanical division but fact patterns differ

 

[HRZ]

OUCH already too late for discount ...90 days from date of death

 

[Tink11464]

Thank you HRZ!! I shared the link with everyone!!

 

[Tink11464]

OUCH already too late for discount ...90 days from date of death

That's our luck - Haha

 

[ALawyer]

Is Her State the SAME as Yours?

One minor point -- while your state may be Pennsylvania, what counts is the state in which the deceased lived -- whose laws may be different from the laws in the state in which you live. Further, where there is real property, the laws of the state in which the property is located would apply to determine who inherits the property in the absence of a Will.