Intestacy

When someone dies without a will, their estate is intestate.  Without a will, the courts must rely on the laws of intestacy to determine how the individual's assets are divided.  Application of these laws changes immediately upon marriage.

Upon marriage, the spouse becomes the primary heir to the exclusion of all other family members except your children.  Specifically, the laws of intestacy act as follows:

• If there are no children, the surviving spouse inherits the entire estate.

• If there are children, all from the current marriage, the surviving spouse will inherit the first $60,000 and the remainder will be divided equally between the surviving spouse and the children.

• If the deceased spouse has children from a previous marriage or relationship, the estate will be equally divided between the surviving spouse and the children.

Do you wish to alter these results?