What if no Will is made nor will a Will be made?

Question

Ok here is the thing. My parents are still alive. Mom does not like Wills, Living Wills or anything of the such. Dad just does what mom says, lol. They only had my brother and I. He passed away a couple of years ago. (you can see my profile for some of the story) But anyway, just before my brother passed away, mom and dad put one acre and one house in his and his wife's name. The other 2 acres and house they listed me as suivor of them and I get that.My brother had 2 kids and they are grown and gone. Well the boy took over their house and made his own mom move out. I have 2 kids my self, grown and gone as well. Last year my parents put my name on their banking account. My parents don't want to give them any thing else now, they want the rest of it to go to me. Here is the problem, mom will not have a will made out at all. She thinks that the attorneys are just after more money. Their attorney himself told me that if they leave things the way they are now that my brothers ............

family can come in when both of my parents are gone and demand half of everything that is here. Even though mom and dad wants what is here to come to me. I do get the house and the land, but the attorney said that they can take half of what is in the house and half of what is on the land. My question now is....Can I make a "poor mans will" have it the way mom and dad wants it to be, them sign it and have it noterized? and still be legal? Or do I need to get a form some where and fill it out or what?

Sorry, I forgot to add that I live in Oklahoma.

Answer 1

When one parent dies, everything should automatically just go to the other parent without a will, but when that 2nd parent dies the estate will generally be divided equally between all legitimate heirs. As far as I am aware, the only way to keep your brother's heirs from inheriting anything is to either make a will, to set up a trust with you in charge of it, or to transfer everything over to your name prior to both your parents dying.

Answer 2

You have to believe what the attorney told you. Or, if you doubt that, get a second opinion from another competent attorney.
First, the attorney knows better than anyone who is not in the legal profession because he has the background, the skills, and is up to date on any changes to estate law. Seek an attorney who specializes in estate law to be sure.
Second, I don't know what state you are in but that also effects the inheritance issues.
When in doubt, think contracts. If it is in writing and it is a contract, it is more powerful than someone's intentions, everyone's opinion of the morality of the situation, and any amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Contracts rule (and a will is a kind of legal contract...)
You are taking a huge chance if you go the route of the 'do-it-yourself' will. The reason is that your brother will most certainly challenge any will and his attorney (he will not hesitate to spend money on a good attorney!) will look for any small loophole or inconsistency to weaken your case to inherit.
If you parents turn over the title of the house and land and want you to have the items in the house and on the land, and in their bank accounts, your parents can do that easily. You can help by paying the lawyer and keeping them out of the financial end of those payments. But make sure that they are clearly doing all of this of their own free will. It's not unusual to see it all put on videotape if you want an extra layer of insurance against counter-claims.
Yes, lawyers can be costly. But never as costly as not having a lawyer at least review what you are doing in the first place!
About having everything in your name: it is the way that your parents have already handled this issue and if they can't do anything else, it might make sense. I tend to agree with the other answer - that this is probably NOT a good idea. It makes it easier once your parents are deceased, but there is a downside. In particular, what if you are sued by someone for a substantial amount of money. It could be possible - and I don't know this for sure - that they could go after your parents' property and take everything if they won in court. Again, I'm not sure of that but I do think it might be a vulnerable flaw in the reasoning for transferring assets.
Yes, if your name is on their bank account, you could rob them blind. But that is not a reason for avoiding giving power to attorney to someone - which is also done in a will, and also is a necessary evil, if you look at it that way. Power of attorney can be abused as well and yet it is necessary.
Bottom line: see a good lawyer!

Answer 3

A will can be done on your own for $20 without an attorney. Just look on the internet for sample wills.. print it out with all information. Have it cosigned by 2 other witnesses and notarized. It will be a legal will.

If you don't have a will, the state will decide on who gets what and your share is. The attorneys will charge you a lot more than you would have paid!

Believe me.. I have see my uncle's house contents sold for $2000 (he was a millionaire!). Then the executor kept the rest for his time & efforts.. my cousin got almost nothing, except for the cash saved up. Even then, the state assigned an executor who billed my cousin everytime he called to get his own money!


Here is a sample will. Have your parent sign it in the presence of TWO witnesses (not you or any other beneficiary) and a NOTARY PUBLIC.

http://law.freeadvice.com/estate_planning/wills/simple_wills.htm

Answer 4

Your brother's children could sue for a portion of the estate. When you do not have a will the state usually decides who is going to get what.

To be sure that your parents wishes are carried out it is essential that they have a legal will. If there is a law school nearby they might offer a service that the upper level students will write a legal will for a small fee.

Do be prepared that they will want your parents to take your name off of all their bank accounts. My parents initially did this and they were appalled that my name was on their bank accounts. It has been since I was 18 years old, that's nearly 40 years. Their reasoning was that I could at any moment rob them blind..... Then they put all of their property and money into a trust which will go to me or my children if something happens to me.

The next thing you could do is check out this website:
http://www.legalzoom.com/ It is suppose to be a good on line website where you can created your own documents for a fee.

Answer 5

If your mother and father draft their own wills without legal advice, then they may save a few bucks right now, but they are more likely to leave the heirs a worse situation than if nothing was done. Not only will your brother's children get half, a large chunk of the estate will be spent in legal fees fixing the problem. It gets worse.

The odds are your parents will not die simultaneously. Therefore the survivor will have to deal with the headache of probate as well as his or her personal grief. One of the greatest gifts anyone can give to their family is a good estate plan. It makes the lives of the survivors easier.

An estate plan is more than just a will. It also includes durable powers of attorneys and health care directives in case you don't die immediately. Durarble powers of attorney allow someone to manage your affirs in case you become incapacitated. Without one, your family has to go through an expensive and complicated guardianship procedure in the courts. Health care directives allow your faimly to take you off of life support so you don't linger in a coma ofr months or years. If Terri Schiavo had signed one, her family would have avoided years of medical expenses, emotional trauma, and litigation.

Explain all that to your mother. With estate planning, she'll make life easier for you and your father. With estate planning, she'll have her wishes fulfilled. With estate planning, she can avoid lingering in a coma. Most people avoid estate planning because they don't want to think of their own death. However, when it is expalined to them that it is one of the best gifts they can give to their families, many will start planning.

Answer 6

State Law has default distributions if someone dies "intestate" e.g., without a will..

In Michigan a deceased estate goes to the spouse first, then the kids equally, or their heirs at law (e.g., their children, then children's children) per stirrips after the last to die. (NOTE: the rules are different if the spouse is NOT the parent of the kids)

Ignore what your parents already gave your deceased brother.. it is gone.. and his widow, and kids, can do what they want with it..

However the house and remaining real estate will obviously go to you UNLESS YOU DIE FIRST.

Your parents put your name on their bank account..so presumably you will get the $$ in the bank account -- again unless you die first.

The issue is WHAT ELSE do they own.. cars, furnature, jewelry, etc.. that will be split between yourself and your brother's heirs when they die.

However, actually the way they have it set up may not be bad if they do not own anything else of real value.. of course that assumes that they die first.. if you die first.. their setup fails and it gets split between your brother's kids and your kids..

As a result, I strongly reccomend that your mom and dad each have wills... THEN JUST IN CASE they do not transfer ownership of that asset to you prior to your death, you will be protected in probate..

BTW.. NOT ALL ESTATES WILLS HAVE TO GO THROUGH PROBATE .. if there are no assets to transfer because they have transferred all of the asset prior to their death or outside of probate (like putting you on as survivor on the bank account or the property) .. then their may not be any need for a full probate procedure.

Answer 7

Your long question has a short answer. If your mother dies without a will, your state's laws of intestacy will control the distribution of her estate. If she wants to control how things will be distributed, she needs to have a will.

Many people advocate cheap wills, including Internet wills. In some cases, they are sufficient. In other cases, they cause a lot of grief and heartache. Convince your mother to go to a greedy lawyer and have a valid will drawn. Offer to pay for it for her. You're going to get the money back when she passes away.

If she refuses, it's her life and her money. You may just have to live with her decision.

Answer 8

It'll be a heck of a lot cheaper for your mother to make a will than it will be for you to go to court when your sibling's kids demand a portion of the estate... be it a mansion or a trailer.

Go on the net and get one of the many freebie will forms, fill it out for her, print it out, go pay for an attorney to check it out and get it notarized.

Answer 9

You can write your own will. Just put down on paper what you want to happen, sign and date it and it is a legal document.