
You may have been warned more than once about the importance of establishing a Last Will and Testament before it is seemingly too late. Well, what may make this a doubly tricky scenario is if you not only sadly pass away without a will, but also pass away without any living relatives to possibly claim your estate. For more, please continue reading to learn what happens if you die without a will and no living relatives and how an experienced Butler County will preparation attorney at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC can help you avoid this potentially complicated scenario.
What happens if I die without a will?
In short, if you die without establishing a valid and enforceable will in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, your assets may be distributed to your relatives according to intestate succession laws. Now, such succession may depend on which relatives survive you upon your unfortunate passing. More specific examples of this read as follows:
- If you die with children but no spouse: your children will inherit everything.
- If you die with a spouse but no children or parents: your spouse will inherit everything.
- If you die with a spouse and children: your spouse will inherit the first $30,000 of your intestate property, plus half the balance, and your children will inherit the rest.
- If you die with a spouse and children from someone else: your spouse will inherit half the intestate property and your children will inherit the rest.
- If you die with a spouse and parents: your spouse will inherit the first $30,000 of your intestate property, plus half the balance, and your parents will inherit the rest.
- If you die with parents but no spouse or children: your parents will inherit everything.
- If you die with siblings but no spouse, children, or parents: your siblings will inherit everything.
What happens if I die without a will and no living relatives?
Importantly, intestate succession cannot be made applicable if you do not have any living relatives to claim your intestate property. In a case like this, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania may become the legal heir of your entire estate. This process is otherwise known as “escheat.”
This is a very rare occurrence, and hopefully one that does not happen to you. This is because federal and state estate laws are designed to get your property into the hands of anyone remotely related to you. For example, if you do not have a surviving spouse, child, or parent, you may have a grandparent, sibling, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle, or cousin step forward. Of note, your half-relatives and even posthumous relatives may hold certain rights to this property.
We advise you to reach out to a skilled Butler County will preparation attorney sooner rather than later. We are confident that you will not regret retaining the services of our team at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC.