What Happens to My Stuff if I Die Without an Estate Plan?

Estate planning is something that many people talk about, but not everyone moves forward with getting a plan in place. Statistics show that just 32% — less than one-third — of Americans have a will.

It is important to have an estate plan in place in the event you die, which we all will do at some point. The unknown part is when. You may live to be 100. You could die tomorrow. Nothing is guaranteed, and it’s important that your wishes where your assets will go after death are known.

Many people die without an estate plan. This is called dying intestate. Without a will or trust, your estate may not be administered as you’d like. Half of your assets may go to an estranged sibling. Or, maybe you’d like for your sports car to go to your stepson after your death, but that would not happen unless you had an estate plan in place.

Each state has different laws for how your assets are distributed in the event of your death. If you have joint property that is owned with a “right of survivorship,” that joint property is exempt from the probate process, as the property automatically goes to the co-owner upon your death. The issue with how your assets are distributed usually arises when property is exclusively and solely owned by you.

Tennessee Intestacy Laws

Tennessee’s intestacy laws are generally cut and dry. If you don’t have a will or trust in place, there are some basic scenarios that can happen if you have a spouse or a child:

• If you have a surviving spouse but no children, your spouse will inherit your entire probate estate.
• If you have children but no spouse, your children will each inherit an equal share of your entire probate estate. As an example, if you have $100,000 and two children, each of them would get $50,000.
• If you have both a surviving spouse and children, your spouse receives either one-third of your probate estate or a child’s share of a probate estate, whichever is greater. The children then equally inherit the balance. As an example, if you have $150,000, a spouse, and four children, your spouse would receive $50,000, and each of your children would receive $25,000.

However, if you have no spouse and no children, things can start to get complicated. Your estate will then go to your parents, and they will receive equal parts. But if your parents are both deceased, then your assets would be equally distributed among any siblings. If you have no surviving brothers or sisters, then your assets would go to any nieces or nephews.  If you have no surviving brothers, sisters, nieces or nephews, then we would look back at your grandparents, and their descendants.  The closest surviving relatives would be looked for.  If all attempts at finding relatives reveals that there are none, then your probate estate would be returned to the State of Tennessee.

Seek Legal Help Today

You never know when the unexpected might happen. If you die without some sort of estate plan in place, your assets will go to certain close family members (as described above). Is this what you intend?

Don’t die intestate. Make sure your wishes for who your heirs should be are actually set forth as required so they must be honored. Brentwood probate & estate administration lawyer Judy A. Oxford, Attorney at Law, can help you create a will, trust, or other legal document that meets your needs. To schedule a consultation, call (615) 791-8511 or fill out the online form.