If you have no Will (being a lawyer and dying with no Will is the Southern equivalent of putting an apple pie on the window sill to cool, directly in reach of your hungry hound dog), you cannot determine who gets your stuff or who manages your property or divides it for your loved ones.
Dying with no Will is called dying “intestate” and all states have laws that govern who gets your estate if you don’t leave any directions that describes your wishes.
The rules for those of us who reside in our great Palmetto State are:
- If a husband dies without a Will, and is survived by a wife and children, the wife gets half and the children get half.
- When a person dies with no Will, survived by children and no spouse, the estate is divided between the children.
- If a married person without children passes away with no Will in place, all of their estate passes to their spouse.
- When a single person becomes deceased without a Will drafted, their belongings go to their parents – and if none, then to their brothers and sisters in equal shares.
Note that not all assets pass under state intestate rules. Many assets are passed along to joint owners (like a Joint Checking Account) or beneficiaries (like an Insurance Policy or an IRA) and are not similarly processed according to the intestate rules.
The Floyd Law Firm can help you find the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your affairs are in order and that those you love will not have to work through the difficulty of resolving the issues of an unplanned estate. We are focused on developing Estate Plans, Wills, and Trusts that are specifically tailored to each individual client’s needs – no matter how complex or straightforward.
