What happens if I die without a will?
Recent studies show that approximately 60% of adults do not have a will, likely because a common misconception is that only rich people need wills. The good news is that the law doesn’t care if you are rich or poor – you will be treated the same! The bad news is that you probably won’t like those results.
To start, your loved ones will have to open a probate estate to handle your affairs. Probate is the process that legally transfers the property owned by a deceased person to their heirs or beneficiaries. The laws of each state dictate who receives your property through the probate process if you do not have a will; these laws are called the “intestate succession” laws and are typically pretty similar but can vary from state to state. You can review the Missouri laws and Kansas laws here. You’ll notice these laws make no allowances for step-children, nor do they allow an estranged child to be disinherited.
Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut, step-by-step process for appointing the guardian of your children or the executor of your estate without a will. In both cases, all persons interested will apply and the judge will have a hearing to determine which one should be appointed. As you can imagine, the judge will make a decision based only on the information they have in front of them, which will be the information each potential executor or guardian supplies to them. The person the judge ultimately chooses to be the guardian may be the perfect person to raise their children, but you have different values and may prefer someone totally different. The best potential Executor on-paper may have a strained relationship with your family, and the process very often leads to fighting if the family does not all agree.
Often parents realize the possibility that their children may grow up without them and purchase large life insurance policies to help to take care of the children. However, they rarely go that extra step to appoint the person they want in charge of that money until they are 18. Why are we so often concerned enough to leave our children plenty of money, but provide no guidance as to how it should be used? Or who will take care of their emotional, mental, and physical needs on a daily basis? A little bit of planning will cover all of these bases.
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