I want someone to tell me about a person dying without a will?

Question

her sister has her death certificate and she always told her after her husband passed that she made her executor of her will but we can't find one. Where do we start. Also since her sister has the death certificates, are we going to have to hire a lawyer to get right of heirship? Also there are 3 nephews involved and we know without a will they get their part also. Help!

Answer 1

First and foremost, the children are entitled because they are viewed as next of kin. BUT, if they do not contest the sister taking over the estate then this is the deal with probate court. Don't hire an attorney just yet. You may not have too. My father died without a will. He was widowed so me and my sister were next to kin. We hired an attorney who charged us 300 bucks to tell us to go to the county courthouse and fill out a form for probate, which means if a person dies without a will, you can go to the county and fill out a form assigning yourself as executor or fidiciary. Its a judicial order but no courtroom. The executor will be sworn in. Most counties have a list of what you need to bring with you, such as death certificates, PAID funeral bill, etc. Its a process but not a long one at all, rather quick. They will ask you to post an ad in the paper for a specific amount of time stating the persons death and asking for any creditors to come forward. After that period of time the county closes the estate and the hier or fidiciary as they call it closes all accounts etc. ALSO, an executor is entitled to a small salary of the estate for charges that may incur while handling the business of the deceased one. Depending on the amount of the person's estate, you may be asked to establish a bank account in the estate's name, which is a well known form that the banks accept from courthouse. But from the time that she is established as fidiciary or executor she will be able to do things in the deceased behalf until the estate is closed so I recommend that she gets the estate probated as soon as possible.

Answer 2

The lawyer that drew up her will will have an original of it.
If she died intestate (without a will) then the estate will be divided between her heirs at law. The normal progression of that process is that beneficiaries are determined by the following order:
1 - Spouse ( inherits the entire estate)...if no spouse
2 - Children (divided equally among them)....if no children
3 - Parents......if parents predeceased her
4 - Siblings (divided equally among them)

If none of the above are in the picture then Parents' siblings and their offspring would benefit but if there are more than one, then they would have to prove the extent of their contribution to her life unless they agreed that the estate be equally divided.

For all of the above except for surviving spouse, the estate will have to apply to the courts for a surrogate probate before the estate can be administered. Whoever the court names as administrator or executor, is responsible to ensure all debts of the deceased are paid before the survivors benefit. The administrator is entitled to 5% of the value of the estate for their trouble.

I hope this helps.

Having a death certificate means nothing....anyone can get one from the undertaker or the registrar. A lost will is no will under the law.

Answer 3

You need to either consult an estates attorney or you need to read about the intestate scheme in your jurisdiction - which would be in the laws relating to probate.

If your sister had an attorney draft the will, the attorney should have a copy of it. However, in some jurisdictions, you can draft your own will on a piece of paper as long as you sign and date it - so it might take some searching.

The death certificate is not relevant. Property will either be distributed per the will or per the intestacy scheme.

Answer 4

Someone who dies without a will is referred to as "intestate." The laws that govern how assets transfer to next of kin are know as "intestate succession laws."

You don't mention which state this is so I can't provide specific information, however you should be able to find more information by searching for the keywords listed above and the state in question.

Answer 5

those are many times happening via pupils as human beings of the era , which potential the sessions that preceded Prophets, it will be as much as Allah to decide them on their righteous deeds . that's obvious from the Quran Allah in no way punishes except a sparkling Warner has come to those human beings. Allah is maximum only.

Answer 6

If she kept an attorney on retainer, the will should be in his care.

If you can't find it, and there are no children of her own involved, it will probably default to the state.