Far too many people in America are going through life without a last Will or a Living Will. A Harris survey was conducted in 2009 that included 1022 adults. The survey found that only 35% of the respondents had a last Will in place and only 29% of the people who participated had executed a living will. This is a sad state of affairs and hopefully these figures will start to trend upward.
With the above in mind, what happens when you die without a Will? Dying without a Will is called dying “intestate,” and if you die intestate you are leaving your family members with a rather confused situation. The matter will fall into the hands of the probate court, and the court will have to appoint a personal representative to administer your final affairs.
The way that assets will be distributed is through the utilization of legally recognized laws of succession. Your closest relative will inherit your resources once any creditors or other claimants against the estate have been satisfied. Of course, this is going to take a good bit of time.
Family members can sometimes disagree about various things that must be done such as the liquidation of property. This can lead to legal actions that slow things down and create general disharmony in the family.
Intestacy is to be avoided. If you do not have a Will in place at present, right now would be a good time to take action to arrange for an appointment with a good Hartford Estate Planning lawyer.
Mr. Nirenstein is licensed to practice before the courts of the State of Connecticut and the United States District Court. He is a member of the Connecticut and Hartford County Bar Associations, and the Estate and Probate, Elder Law, Business Law and Real Estate Sections of the Connecticut Bar Association.
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