Q about wills

[T77911S]

my friend is a single parent with just her ex husband, mother and sister.
none of them have a will

if any of them die, who would get their possession's

the house is in her moms name, if mom dies, would he get the house.
same if she dies, would her mom get her money and car.

[GH85Carrera]

Usually the estate goes to the spouse first. They should spend the time to get a will now to make things much faster and easier.

Probate of a house can take a LONG time, depending on how much fighting there is among the potential heirs.

My dad had a will, and it spelled out his wishes and he made me the executor. It still required me to hire an attorney, and many months to clear things for the estate.

My wife and I both have wills.

[asphaltgambler]

Hence the importance of putting it in writing. Even if there is very little money or property if nothing's in black and white it will just lead to fighting, theft and hard feelings amongst the family. My wife and I have separate ones in case one passes before the other, then 1 together if we pass at the same time.

We both have in the first paragraph that any heir or potential heir that contests the documents will automatically forfeit any right or interest they may have. That way keeps it simple, no arguing, no attorneys.

[Scott Douglas]

I would suggest they all look into a living trust.

[PorscheGAL]

Here in sc having a will or not doesn’t matter much. It will go through 1 year probate. A judge will choose. The only way to avoid that is a trust.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

Here in sc having a will or not doesn’t matter much. It will go through 1 year probate. A judge will choose. The only way to avoid that is a trust.

Really?

My parents both had wills. Mom died several years before dad, so he took care of that. When my dad died, I was the executor, and had to call a lawyer and go to court once and swear before a judge I would do the duties of the executor and carry out the wishes of my dad to the best of my ability. The paperwork was filed, and the slow process of closing everything started. It was about 10 months of work to get it all done. Nothing moves fast.

The lawyer was at the courthouse all the time anyway for other clients. He went before the judge and filed the final paperwork for me so I was saved having to get dressed up to go before a judge. The moment the judges gavel hit, the estate was closed, done and over.

It was not a large estate at all. Mostly a 1,000 square foot house built in 1930s and his car. He lived off of his retirement from the Air Force.

[rockfan4]

I'd suggest looking on the SC website for "Intestate Succession"
For example, here's the chart for WI
If you die, your spouse gets your stuff.
If the divorce is final, then they don't.
Next is your kids. If they're minors then a guardian handles the estate, usually for a fee.
If you don't have kids, then your parent(s).
If your parents have past, then brothers and sisters.
Make sense? Remember, this is only WI.

I was able to execute my mother's estate, with a will, without a lawyer.
Lots of forms, a few letters to the judge, took almost a year.

[PorscheGAL]

Originally Posted by rockfan4

I'd suggest looking on the SC website for "Intestate Succession"
For example, here's the chart for WI
If you die, your spouse gets your stuff.
If the divorce is final, then they don't.
Next is your kids. If they're minors then a guardian handles the estate, usually for a fee.
If you don't have kids, then your parent(s).
If your parents have past, then brothers and sisters.
Make sense? Remember, this is only WI.

I was able to execute my mother's estate, with a will, without a lawyer.
Lots of forms, a few letters to the judge, took almost a year.

Typical Succession is very similar here but the judge in probate can change it. But probate takes a year with or without will in place. Trusts allow it to transfer upon death without going through probate

[wdfifteen]

The best answer to you question is to get wills. Now! It's not that expensive, and a clear will helps probate go faster.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

Trusts allow it to transfer upon death without going through probate

A trust doesn't transfer anything. That's the point of a trust. The trust owns everything and the trust doesn't die when the grantor of the trust dies.

[PorscheGAL]

Maybe what I should have said: is the trust transfers without going through probate.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

Maybe what I should have said: is the trust transfers without going through probate.

I am not a lawyer so I don't know the proper terminology. But I have a revocable trust and I know the only thing that changes if I kick the bucket is the name of the trustee who controls the trust (and that is only because I designated myself the trustee). When I am gone the trust endures and it still owns the assets. There is no transfer.

[ossiblue]

Let’s clear it up. Simply stated, the trust owns everything before the assignors die. Some trusts and wills transfer additional property to the trust upon death. The trust owns the assets and the trustee controls the trust. The trustee then may maintain, transfer or liquidate the trust and/or its assets according to the trust instructions. No probate.

[greglepore]

Almost all states honor a will-with some exceptions-in some states a spouse can "elect against" a will. Probate is mostly to assure debts get paid before distribution.

Ex spouses are non entities for estate purposes-they get nothing everywhere I know of-assuming x means final divorce granted.

If house is in moms name, it either needs to be willed to her or deeded to her with life estate to mom. Later is more simple. Otherwise likely she splits with sis.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by ossiblue

Some trusts and wills transfer additional property to the trust upon death.

I have a question about that, Ossi. I have a trust and a pour-over will due to having an IRA. Do the assets outside the trust go through probate and the % hit probate takes before being distributed to the trust, just as if it was a normal will?

[SCadaddle]

Copy and paste from an older post that I commented on in this forum:





A Will is one thing, a Trust is a whole separate matter. In my families instance, the Will simply designated the Executrix to handle the trust. This was the case with my 99 year old Aunt, a long time widow with no children. I, along with her 2 brothers of age 89 and 91 cold called the long time "lady at the bank" one day after the probate period and asked her if my Aunt even had a will. She said she did not know. I said to my dad and uncle that if she did have a will that it would probably be recorded at the County Courthouse. The banker lady' eyes took a very different look. 30 minutes later at the Courthouse I had a copy of the Will. And the lady we just cold called....she was named as the Executrix of the Trust in the Will. Even had her signature. At death, the estate became the trust. And the bank and the banks lawyer managed to abscond about a half a million dollars from a 99 year old woman where apparently none of the family were designated as beneficiaries of the Trust, and the court ruled that since the family, being brothers and next of kin, that filed the lawsuit against the bank were not named beneficiaries, they had no recourse on finding out how the money in the Trust was paid out. My Aunt was a very secretive lady. She was sold on the whole idea that the Trust would be secretive to the probate of her estate process. I was more than certain her church was a beneficiary to the Trust. I asked her Preacher for info. He took it up with the Elders. They decided that since my Aunt was "so secretive in life, it was their intent to have her remain secretive in death". In the end, the bank sold her 18k worth of jewelry through an on-line auction. So much for being secretive.
It's a very long story. I went to the States Attorney General' Vulnerable Adults unit with no resolve and I even went and sat down with the FBI to no resolve. The latter spent what, 42 years and 5 million dollars to try and figure out how DB Cooper made off with half as much money?
So the moral of the story is IF you go with a Trust, leave $10 to a friend named as a beneficiary to make sure everything went down on the up and up. There's a reason the local community based non profit charitable organizations print brochures and leave them on the coffee tables in the communal areas of nursing homes. And when you find the one brochure and do a little investigating to find that the banks lawyer and a member of the banks Trust department are on the Board of Directors of said charitable organization you start to smell the rats.

[Zeke]

Bank owned trusts are treacherous.

[SCadaddle]

I'm currently involved in 3 family Estates. It is a nightmare. The money going to the attorneys is absurd. I'm living a damn John Grisham novel. Literally. Pun intended. My late sister was a college friend of John Grisham.

That being said, here is a good "series" of videos of what is typical. I highly suggest you take the time to view the entire series. You'll figure out pretty quick to fast forward past the first 32 seconds of each one.

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I have a question about that, Ossi. I have a trust and a pour-over will due to having an IRA. Do the assets outside the trust go through probate and the % hit probate takes before being distributed to the trust, just as if it was a normal will?

My wife and I recently completed our estate planning and, coincidentally, have recently had to deal with the liquidation of her father's trust. To answer your questions, the pour-over will distributes assets that are outside the trust, into the trust upon death. Once in the trust, they are under the control of the trustee and are not part of probate. Any assets outside the trust, if not mentioned in the pour-over will, are subject to probate. BTW, "personal property" includes many things, like automobiles, that do not have to be itemized in the will.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by ossiblue

My wife and I recently completed our estate planning and, coincidentally, have recently had to deal with the liquidation of her father's trust. To answer your questions, the pour-over will distributes assets that are outside the trust, into the trust upon death.

Before the probate process, I take it.

Originally Posted by ossiblue

BTW, "personal property" includes many things, like automobiles, that do not have to be itemized in the will.

My pour over will says every possession that is not in the trust gets "poured over" into the trust.