pmitch10 said:
What is the name of your state? NH
My exhusband (father to my children) just passed away suddenly due to his heart. My question is how do my children determine if they are beneficiaries to any of his assets if he did not have a will prepared? He has since been remarried for 3 years and his wife now has not been forthcoming with any information yet she has said she has filed the paperwork only 3 days after his death before he was even cremated.....another thing she said he wanted to my children's dismay.
http://www.finance.cch.com/pops/c50s10d190_NH.asp
New Hampshire Intestate Succession Laws
If any part of a New Hampshire 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. However, the amount a surviving spouse is entitled to varies as follows:
* If the decedent leaves no surviving issue (e.g., child or grandchild) or parents, the surviving spouse is entitled to the entire intestate estate.
* If the decedent leaves issue all of whom are also issue of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse gets the first $50,000, plus one-half of the remaining balance of the intestate estate.
* If the decedent leaves issue one or more of whom are not also issue of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse gets one-half of the intestate estate.
* If the decedent is survived by only a parent or parents and no issue, the surviving spouse is entitled to the first $50,000, plus one-half of the remaining balance of the 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 decedent's:
1. Descendants, per stirpes.
2. Parent or parents equally.
3. Parents' descendants, per stirpes.
4. One or more surviving grandparents or the descendants of grandparents (e.g., decedent's aunts and uncles). Half of the estate passes to the paternal grandparents if both survive, or to the surviving paternal grandparent or to the descendants of the paternal grandparents if both are deceased, taking per stirpes. The other half passes to the maternal relatives in the same manner. If there is no surviving grandparent or descendants 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 portion would.
5. Next available kin related to the decedent up to the fourth degree of kinship.
3. State of New Hampshire. If there is no taker under any of the above provisions, the intestate estate passes to the state of New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Intestate Succession Law Fun Facts
* 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 New Hampshire gets the intestate estate.
* New Hampshire's intestate succession laws, as well as other related laws, can be found in Title LVI of the New Hampshire Revised Statutes.
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