Estate planning is a responsibility that is easy to delay. Adults can always tell themselves that they have time next month or that they want to wait until they resolve a certain challenge before drafting a will.
The problem with that approach is that no one knows what life may bring. People can experience emergencies and may die decades ahead of the average life expectancy for someone with their characteristics. They may then leave their loved ones without the practical and financial support they want to provide.
A large percentage of adults do not have any documents in place. If they die without a will, then state law dictates what happens with their assets.
What does the law mandate?
People who die without wills or other estate planning instruments have died intestate. Intestate succession laws clearly outline what happens to the estate of the deceased individual. Any assets belonging solely to the decedent become part of their estate, and the law determines who inherits that property.
Intestate succession laws protect the closest surviving family members of the deceased individual. Spouses and children usually inherit as heirs under intestate succession rules. Children and spouses may share the estate of the deceased individual. Exactly how they split the property depends on whether the surviving spouse is also a parent to the surviving children.
For those who die without children or a spouse, their parents are likely to inherit their estates. Siblings and other family members have rights when there are no surviving parents. In scenarios where there are no immediate surviving family members, the state itself may eventually receive the contents of a person’s estate.
People who have not married their romantic partners, those intending to make charitable contributions and those wanting to leave resources for extended family may find that intestate successions don’t align with their priorities. Drafting a will and other estate planning paperwork gives a testator control over their legacy and helps protect the people that they love.
Intestate succession laws may fail to uphold a person’s true wishes, making advance planning important for many people who care about close loved ones and/or the legacy they intend to leave. Estate plans that include a variety of documents offer more protection than simple wills or reliance on intestate succession laws.