How to Do a Succession When Both Parents Have Died
Children are often the parties responsible to close an estate out when parents die. If both mom and dad have died without a valid will or trust, the estate is said to be in “intestate succession." Courts determine the heirs in succession. Probate courts must review and approve the closure of the estate ensuring that all potential beneficiaries are properly informed, that all the parents’ debts are paid before estate liquidation, and that remaining assets are distributed to the court-determined heirs. State succession regulations vary but follow the minimum federal guidelines outlined in the Uniform Probate Code.
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Instructions
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Obtain a death certificate for both parents from the hospital or morgue where they were pronounced dead. Death certificates are also available through the county records office where your parents died.
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Go to the probate court with the death certificates and request paperwork to file a petition as the estate administrator. File the paperwork and obtain a hearing date to gain appointment as adminstrator of the estate.
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Notify all known heirs including your siblings and step-siblings about the upcoming probate hearing. Publish a notice of the death in the local obituaries as well.
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Attend the hearing and obtain your appointment. If there is opposition to your appointment by other heirs, formal objections must be written and filed with the courts and reviewed at the hearing.
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Meet with the trustee assigned to your probate petition once you are approved as the administrator. Gather all asset and debt information.
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Pay off all debts and file final tax returns for the estate.
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Follow the mandates of intestacy as directed by the trustee. Most states give the surviving spouse a large percentage of the estate, but not all of it. Since there is no surviving spouse with both parents dead, only the children will be considered in the succession assets.
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Determine if succession is based on one parent dying first. If dad died before mom and it is determined that all assets passed to mom first, then the estate is mom’s. But assume mom and dad died in a car accident but dad is determined to have died first, the trustee may follow the rules of succession in your state based on dad’s succession then mom’s, Mom would split the estate as the survivor – if even for a few minutes – with dad’s first child and all mutual children. Then mom’s estate would succeed to her heirs. This method, though not a standard formula, ensures dad’s first child gets part of the estate as well. Your probate trustee will guide you on the succession hierarchy.
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Split the assets among the heirs equally. If your family dynamic is the result of multiple marriages and divorces, the trustee will have to make decisions regarding succession. In most cases, all surviving children share equally in the estate.
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Pay off all debts and file final tax returns for the estate.
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11
Follow the mandates of intestacy as directed by the trustee. Most states give the surviving spouse a large percentage of the estate, but not all of it. Since there is no surviving spouse with both parents dead, only the children will be considered in the succession assets.
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12
Determine if succession is based on one parent dying first. If dad died before mom and it is determined that all assets passed to mom first, then the estate is mom’s. But assume mom and dad died in a car accident but dad is determined to have died first, the trustee may follow the rules of succession in your state based on dad’s succession then mom’s. Mom would split the estate as the survivor – if even for a few minutes – with dad’s first child and all mutual children. Then mom’s estate would succeed to her heirs. This method, though not a standard formula, ensures dad’s first child gets part of the estate as well. Your probate trustee will guide you on the succession hierarchy.
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13
Split the assets among the heirs equally. If your family dynamic is the result of multiple marriages and divorces, the trustee will have to make decisions regarding succession. In most cases, all surviving children share equally in the estate.
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