A deceased estate is always divided among their family members. This practice tends to entrench income in certain social classes. In the United States, inheritance accounts for a staggering proportion of total wealth. This is one of the chief causes of persistent income inequality. The question then is, what happens when there is no will? And what happens if there is a surviving grandparent or descendant of a grandparent? For more information, visit williamslegal.com.au/services/deceased-estates/ now.
Wills
A Will is an important document that distributes the estate of a deceased person’s family members in a particular order. Typically, assets are distributed to children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, and other descendants. However, in some states, the estate must be probated, a lengthy and expensive process. Nonetheless, if your loved one did not leave a Will, there are many ways to ensure that the assets are passed on to the right people.
Wills are usually stored in lock boxes, bank safe deposit boxes, or the attorney’s offices who prepared the Will. To locate a will, you should start at the deceased’s residence. The safe deposit box is probably the most likely place to find the Will. In either case, you can ask someone to search for it. You can also search the deceased’s bank accounts. This way, you are guaranteed to find the Will.
Estates without a will
In states where people die without a will, their assets will pass to the surviving spouse and any children. If the person does not make a will, their estate will pass to their parents or surviving spouse. If the person has children, the children will receive their share of the estate and their grandchildren. Estates without a will are common, but it’s important to know your rights as a beneficiary.
A deceased estates will be divided up according to intestacy laws in their state. The laws will determine who gets what, if anything, and how much. In New York, the closest living relative has to file the estate administration process. That relative is usually the spouse or children. It can also be parents or siblings. When a person has no will, their estate will go to the state, and this can cause complications.
Assets titled in the decedent’s name alone
Although many people think that their Wills automatically avoid probate, this isn’t always the case. In many cases, assets titled in the decedent’s name alone are still subject to probate. Probate is a court process where a decedent’s Will specifies who should inherit their estate. However, if all assets are owned in a trust, a living trust can avoid probate entirely. In this case, the assets are transferred to the trust, and the trust terms dictate how the assets pass after the decedent’s death. For more information, visit williamslegal.com.au/services/deceased-estates/ now.
In this scenario, the spouse takes the first $100,000 and shares the remainder with their children, assuming that the decedent had descendants. If not, the spouse receives half of the remaining estate. In addition, the descendants of the decedent receive their inheritance by representation, a term that will be explained later. Similarly, the parents of the deceased receive half of the estate equally.
Estates with a surviving grandparent or descendant of a grandparent
An estate can be divided between descendants of a deceased person’s parents, grandparents, or maternal great-grandparents. This can be confusing, as descendants of one parent may inherit from the other, and first cousins may not. However, if both parents are deceased, the estate is split equally between all relatives. Here is some information to help you navigate the inheritance process.
First, a decedent’s descendants receive half of their inheritance. If the decedent had no issue, the inheritance goes to the grandparents. Otherwise, it will go to the descendants of the deceased parent. If a single living parent is there, the other half of the inheritance will go to the deceased parent’s children. A decedent with no issue can leave half of their estate to either paternal or maternal grandparents, as long as both parents were alive when the decedent died.
Tax considerations
Often overlooked by advisers focused on private clients, tax considerations for deceased estates can be complex. IRD, or inheritance tax, can be payable to a person other than the decedent’s estate. To avoid potential complications when selling the decedent’s assets, the executor must first determine the decedent’s value on the date of death. This value must not have decreased during the decedent’s lifetime, or it may be subject to IRD tax. For more information, visit williamslegal.com.au/services/deceased-estates/ now.
The basis of a decedent’s assets is the amount from which any gain or loss will be calculated when the new owner sells the property. In most cases, the surviving spouse is exempt from this tax. However, if the decedent’s money-market mutual fund balance was at its peak value on June 30th, the interest earned from the fund afterwards is taxable to the estate and beneficiary.