Dying "Inestate"

By: Ryan Dennin

Many of the blogs have discussed what will happen when you die assuming you have a solid estate plan, and will most likely carried out by an executor and prepared by an attorney. What happens when you don’t have an estate plan? It is important that people remember one of your most important assets is your estate plan. However, many people every year die without having a estate plan at all. The term intestacy refers to someone that has died without a will. States have varying laws for this situation, however they all seem to follow basic intuition. A spouse, children, etc. would get your estate assuming you die without a will. Where this becomes more complex is for people that have no spouse, no children, and no siblings. In this rare case the government will take over the state. Over the past few years in US history, many people have tried making intestacy laws uniform, however these continue to vary state by state. In the event where no family exists, and you have a friend or partner you wish your estate to go to it is important to have a proper will or the government may take over your estate. This is just another example of how important it is to have a will, and the various laws that currently exist to deal with estate planning can get quite complex.

Sources:

http://wills.about.com/od/estateplanning101/a/deathplan.htm

http://www.wolfbaldwin.com/lawyers_attorneys/articles.asp?ArticleID=34&Page=pa_intestate_no_will_intestacy_estate_Pennsylvania.asp

http://ezinearticles.com/?Dont-Neglect-Your-Most-Important-Asset---Your-Estate-Plan&id=1995618