Wills, Estates & Inheritance Rights
Each state has laws that affect what you stand to inherit from your spouse, parents, siblings and other relatives. These inheritance laws come into play whenever a person dies and affect all aspects of what happens to estate property, ranging from what you have to do to create a valid will to how your property gets handed out to your heirs. Talk to an estate planning attorney if you need legal advice about the laws in your state.
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What Is an Estate?
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When you die, all your property gets lumped together and is referred to as your estate. Your estate includes everything you owned by yourself, such as money, property and even debts. Property you owned with someone else, such as a joint checking account or a home, is generally not included in your estate. Your estate property must then get handed out to new owners, a process known as settling an estate.
What Is a Will?
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A will is a specific kind of legal document that you can create to explain in detail how you want your estate distributed and who you want to inherit your property. If you do not create a will, your estate gets distributed according to state laws that already exist, known as intestacy laws. Wills are usually made in writing, though some states also allow for verbal wills, called nuncapative wills, or wills made entirely in your own handwriting, called holographic wills.
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What Are My Inheritance Rights?
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Your rights as an inheritor depend upon several factors. First, a testator (a person making a will) can choose his own inheritors without limit. Many states have laws that prevent a testator from completely disinheriting a spouse, but only Louisiana prevents a testator from disinheriting children. If their is no will, your inheritance rights are determined by the state's intestacy laws. These vary widely, but generally give spouses, children, parents, siblings and other relatives the right to inherit estate property based on their relation to the decedent and who is still alive to receive property.
What Is the Probate Process?
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Your rights as an inheritor depend largely on both the inheritance laws of your state and procedures and requirements of the state probate code. Probate laws determine how estates get distributed, what makes a will valid and who stands to inherit from intestate estates. In a typical probate case, for example, a person dies and leaves behind property and a will. The probate court starts a probate case and appoints someone to inventory all the estate property, pay any outstanding debts using that property and then hand out the remaining property to any heirs or inheritors.
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References
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