|
Intestacy Laws
"Intestacy" refers to any person who dies
without a valid Will, as well as to any of the deceased's property which
does not have instructions for its ownership.
Without a valid Will, Florida laws control who receives your property at
death, as well as the exact amount that is given to each person.
These "Intestacy Laws"
are an attempt to distribute each person's property in the manner that it is
believed most people would prefer, which is typically to the most closely
related living family members.
However, these laws are merely an assumption and the same distribution
pattern is applied to all intestate property.
Married Couples
Many married couples assume that each spouse's individually owned property will
automatically belong to the surviving spouse if either of them dies without a
Will.
In actuality, these laws provide the surviving spouse with as little as
one-half of the deceased spouse's estate if the deceased has just one
Child, Grandchild, or even a Great-Grandchild. In fact, this applies
even if the surviving spouse is not the parent of all these children or is
not also a grandparent to the grandchildren.
Specific Examples | Click Here >>
|
|
Married Example
Assume that John, who is married to Susan, has
recently died with a $500,000
estate, but without a Will.
John and Susan never had any children. However, John had a child by a
former relationship, named Jane.
Although many people would assume that John's wife Susan is entitled to the
entire $500,000 of John's estate, she will in fact receive just $250,000.
Without a valid Will directing otherwise, John's
daughter Jane is entitled to receive the remaining $250,000 according to
Florida's Intestacy Laws.
Also note that John's personal relationship with
Jane is not considered. Jane may also be wealthier than Susan, but
these laws still grant Jane a portion of his estate simply because he did
not have a Will.
More Examples | Click Here >>
Florida Intestacy Calculator
The previous example, and many other possible
scenarios, are shown by our exclusive Intestacy Calculator.
Choosing different family scenarios can often
produce interesting and unanticipated results.
For example,
half-blood relations entitled to a portion of the intestate estate will
only receive a share equal to one-half of the shares given to whole blood
heirs.
Our exclusive Intestacy Calculator evaluates
each of your answers to determine whether more information is needed and, if
so, which questions must be asked. With sufficient information, the
Intestacy Calculator automatically provides a summary of the dollar value
assigned to each person according to Florida's Intestacy Laws.
As you work through different fact patterns, you
may reset the calculator and begin again. Providing different answers
to the questions will produce different results.
You may freely use our Intestacy Calculator,
without any obligation, and learn about the many possibilities for the
distribution of an intestate estate under Florida's Intestacy Laws. Of
course, you cannot substitute this information for the advice of an
attorney.
Open the
Intestacy Calculator
|
