The probate courts become involved to oversee the division of his/her estate among those legally entitled to it. If the person left no will, the estate will be divided according to the laws of "intestacy." In addition to overseeing the distribution of the estate, the probate court will ensure that any debts of the decedent, funeral expenses, and taxes are paid prior to distributing the remaining assets of the estate. Spouse, and the children* of both decedent and spouse
Spouse takes first $100,000 plus ½ of the remainder. Children* take the other ½ of the remainder.
Spouse, and children* of decedent, one or more of whom is not the child of the spouse
Spouse takes ½. All the children* share the other ½ equally.
Spouse and parent or parents (no children**)
Spouse takes first $100,000 plus ¾ of the remainder. Parent(s) takes the other ¼.
Spouse only (no children**, no parents)
Spouse takes all.
Children* only (no spouse)
Children take all*.
Parent(s) (no spouse, no children**)
Parent(s) take all.
Brothers* and sisters* (no spouse, no parents, no children**)
Brothers* and sisters* take all..
Next of kin (no spouse, no children**, no parents, no brothers** or sisters**)
Next of kin takes all.
2007-10-08 00:08:26
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answer #1
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answered by PR_DR 2
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Where do you live?
The laws differ from place to place.
In the state of Victoria in Australia the following happens:
1. The money does not go to the Government
2. A Government body may be responsible for dividing up the estate but surviving family members can apply to do this and they have the same rules to follow as an executor named in a Will have.
3. It depends on the person who died and the surviving relatives. But here is an example. Mr. Smith 50 died. He is survived by his wife and 3 children all under 16.
The person in charge of the estate has to determine all the assests, all debtors and all possible beneficiaries.
They normally advertise to say Mr Smith of X address died on X date you have 21 days from the date of this notice to make a claim for any monies owned.
Then they wait. When they know all the debts and the time period is up they are paid.
Then the balance of the assets are divided between the beneficiaries. There is a set formula.
If there was a family home and it was in the name of both Mr and Mrs Smith it goes to the surviving spouse.
Other assets are divided based on the following:
First $100,000 plus a third of the remaining assets goes to the surviving spouse.
The remaining two thirds of the assets are divided between the 3 surviving children.
There is a pecking order. So if say there were no spouse and or children but siblings or uncles or cousins. Siblings would be beneficiaries before cousins and uncles.
So really you need to look up the law for the State and country in which the deceased person lives. Because the law is based on the last known address of the deceased - not where the beneficiaries live.
2007-10-08 07:21:13
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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When you die intestate (without making a will) the law provides that certain members of your family who survive you will be entitled to your estate. How much each member receives is determined by strict rules laid down by Parliament reflecting what it believes is a fair distribution of your possessions.
If you die intestate:
No account will be taken of your wishes or intentions as to what should happen to your estate.
In the absence of an executor appointed in your will the court must appoint a suitable person. This leads to unnecessary delay in completing the administration and distribution of your estate and greater expense.
Even if you have a will it may be invalid if any of the legal formalities have not been observed when the will was signed and your estate would then be distributed as if you had died intestate.
2007-10-08 07:24:04
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answer #3
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answered by ReBecca_Oraya 3
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Some responsible member of the family (generally, but not necessarily one who stands to inherit) will take out letters of probate. Once this person has been granted permission to administer the estate on behalf of the deceased, he will do so in the same way as a testator would have done under a will, the only difference being that the estate is divided according to strict legal principles and not according to the wishes of the deceased. This link will show the way in which this is done. http://www.findersuk.com/downloads/inheritance_guide.pdf
2007-10-08 10:51:58
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answer #4
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answered by Doethineb 7
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This answer is directly from the Law Society of New South Wales Website www.lawsociety.com.au. If one does not make a will - The legal procedures are more complicated and time-consuming and may cause expense, worry and even hardship to your family.
The law provides a formula which sets out who is entitled to the property of a deceased person who has not left a will. The formula may not distribute your assets in the way you would have wanted.
It is not true that the Government takes a deceased person’s property if there is no will. This can happen only in exceptional cases where there are no close relatives or persons in a family relationship surviving the deceased.
2007-10-08 07:10:40
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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Louise-assuming you're from the U.S., dying without a Will may be no big deal at all. I guarantee you it does not go to the government in any state unless the decedent has no living relatives. In my state, it goes to the nearest living relative regardless of how distant in relationship that heir may be. However, some states do not go beyond certain remote degrees of relationship in SEARCHING for heirs. Also--in my state--probating without a Will is no more difficult than with a Will. We're a Uniform Probate Code State, so you may want to google that phrase and see if your state has the Uniform Probate Code. The degrees of relationship are called degrees of "consanguinity". Google that also for an understanding of how the relationships of family members are counted. I live in a community property state. In my state, the spouse gets all the community property and the children get all the separate property. I do probate law and I sometimes tell my clients they don't need a Will if they want all their property to go to the children equally and have no preference as to who gets particular items of personal property. Also, in my state, you can leave a simple list of personal property (daughter gets jewelry/son gets tools for example) with a Will and these items do not have to be listed in any Will. I'm not saying it's a good idea NOT to have a Will, but if you're a married person with one or two children who get along well, you may not need it IN MY STATE. It then just passes through the blood lines forever--to 10th cousins if they can be located. If a distant relative dies, you'd have to be savvy enough to find the death notice in the newspaper to know he/she died and then watch for a notice of probate to find out if you're an heir. Also, there's a lot of state variations to probate. In my state, it's unbelievably easy. If no one fights it, you can open and close a probate 5 days after death.
2007-10-08 07:30:44
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answer #6
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answered by David M 7
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The estate will go through intestacy. Basically it will be divided in whatever method the state laws have organized to divide it.
If the person was married, or has kids or both, the estate will be split among them.
If the person was single and has no kids, the estate goes to the next of kin. They have various methods (Depending on the state) in which to determine who gets what. They start with the parents though.
2007-10-08 07:07:28
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answer #7
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answered by Avatar_defender_of_the_light 6
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If it's in England, basically, someone has to obtain Letters Of Administration from the Court, which are that person's authority to deal with the estate. It's dealt with according to the laws of intestacy. There's a basic rundown of the entitlements on here: http://www.wisewills.co.uk/intestate.htm
2007-10-08 07:10:52
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answer #8
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answered by champer 7
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All creditors are cleared then the residue is inherited by the next of kin
The next of kin is determined by the inheritance act. Its a list in order of relation Its starts with spouse, if no spouse then eldest child if no children then grandchildren etc etc
if no one is available to receive then it will go to the government
2007-10-08 07:17:39
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answer #9
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answered by stormydays 5
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Independant companies will trace a rightful heir to the estate and charge for their services once they find them. Look on the BBC website for a program that was on a couple of months ago about it, cant remember the name of it though..
2007-10-08 07:08:06
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answer #10
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answered by ondballpaul 3
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