The most vital role of estate planning is to determine how to allocate your properties. But what if there is no one to take over your estate? Do you still need to plan your estate or you leave it the way it is?
As of 2018, Statista reported that a little less than half of women in America were childless.
Many people don’t see the point in coming up with a plan, which is a huge mistake. When you pass away without an estate plan, you increase the chances of your estate going to someone that doesn’t deserve the property.
The Rules of Inheritance
These are rules that determine where your estate ends up when you pass away. Every state has its own rules that describe who gets precedence and how much they are supposed to collect when you become deceased.
In as much as the statutes differ from one state to another, there is a priority among the heirs that cuts across states.
Intestate (Presence of Will) vs. Testate (Absence of Will)
The rules of inheritance apply depending on a variety of factors, chief among them being the presence or absence of a will.
A person that leaves a legal will behind is said to have died intestate, while a person who dies minus leaving a valid will behind is said to have died testate.While the different states have differing views on wills, it is a fact that most of them recognize the document to be valid when it has been prepared by a person aged 18 years or older. Additionally, most states let a parent to strike their kids off a will as they feel like, but this doesn’t apply to spouses.
The Priority
When you have a surviving spouse, you get automatic priority in the succession laws. When your spouse dies and you have no surviving kids, then you as the surviving spouse will inherit the whole estate.
Children are also given priority when the surviving parent is unmarried at the time of death of the other spouse. In such a case, the kids receive the entire estate.
On the other hand, if both the spouse and kids are alive, then they split the property, though the amount each receives in the inheritance varies from state to state. Grandkids are reflected under special circumstances, for instance, if the parents are deceased, then the grandkids have the right to share in the estate.
Collateral Heirs
These include siblings and other relatives that aren’t direct descendants of the departed. In cases where the person didn’t have any kids, grandkids, parents or partner, then the siblings can inherit a part of the estate.
Alternative Heirs
If you don’t have relatives to inherit your estate, then you can designate the wealth to an acquaintance or a charity.
Truth is that anyone has a right to inherit your estate, excluding the lawyer who made the will. It is usually better to choose the beneficiary rather than let someone else decide where your money needs to go.
Without an heir, you can go ahead and leave the estate to a charity that you are comfortable with. It is therefore, prudent that you start your charitable acts when you are still alive so that you identify the best charity to leave the estate to.
Before you make a charity your beneficiary, sit down with your estate planning lawyer who has familiarity with charitable funding to guide you. The lawyer will advise you on how to meet your goals easily and cheaply.
Get Somebody to Assist with Your Decisions
In most cases, the immediate family is usually tasked with assisting you to decide – but what happens when you don’t have anyone to turn to when incapacitated? This is why you need someone to handle critical decisions on your behalf.
- Power of attorney (POA) – this is tasked with making crucial decisions for you in various areas. You can decide to have a POA for investments and another one for medical issues.
- A living will – this person will make decisions for you when you near death.
All these people are vital, work with your estate planning lawyer to choose the best one for your circumstances.
Takeaway
Even without kids or an apparent heir, you still need to come up with an estate plan. Make sure you have a will to guide the state on how to distribute your wealth. You also need to have a list of beneficiaries to receive your estate when you die.
