What is an Administrative Proceeding?

Intestacy Laws state how your assets will be divided if you pass without a Will or Trust. Some examples of different case scenarios are:

1. First Scenario- John has passed and leaves behind a wife and two children. In such a case scenario the wife would inherit half of the estate and the two children would get the remainder fifty percent in equal shares, so twenty five percent to one child and twenty five percent to the other.
2. Second Scenario – Michelle has passed away with no surviving spouse. During Michelle’s lifetime she was married twice and leaves behind two children from two separate marriages. In this case they are both blood related and according to the intestacy laws of New York they would both split Michelle’s estate fifty percent to one and fifty percent to the other.
3. Third Scenario- Steven passes away he was never married, and he has no children. Both his parents have passed away several years back and his closest surviving relative would be his sister Jessica. In this case Jessica would be entitled to receive one hundred percent of Steven’s estate according to the intestacy laws of New York.
4. Forth Scenario- Alex passes away his wife Lauren passed several years before him and they never had children. Alex was 91 years old when he passed both his parents predeceased him many years ago, he didn’t have any brothers or sisters, but his mother had a brother who is still alive, and his father had a sister who is still alive. In this case they would be considered his closest living relatives and his aunt and uncle would inherit his estate in equal shares.

To file for administration or in other words to start the administrative proceeding you will need to gather some information and documents. For starters you will need to get an original of the death certificate as you will need it for filing. You will need to put together a list of all the assets such as bank accounts, real estate, jewelry, stocks, bond and so on, as you will need this information and the value for filing. You will need to create a list of all the closest surviving relatives as you will need to put them all on notice that there is an administrative proceeding taking place. By law they need to be notified and given the chance to come forth and claim what may potentially be theirs under the intestacy laws. One of the most important things not to forget is a list of debts and outstanding taxes. Debts and taxes must be paid in full prior to any distribution of assets taking place.

Once the administrative proceeding is over all debts are paid of and all taxes are settled the estate is then distributed in accordance with the intestacy laws of the given state. This is where we tend to see a lot of family disputes begin to arise. Now at times there might be a piece of property like a home that is split among two, three or more people. In such a case it is common for someone to come forth and offer the others to buy them out or to put the property up for sale and to divide the proceeds equally among everyone. This can prove difficult when one has more money then the other or someone in the group that just inherited currently resides in the home. Jewelry and family heirlooms tend to cause issues as well since some people may have attachments while others don’t wish to part with the cash value of such items. Overall good negotiating skills and compromise can prove to be of value during these times.

To sum it up, administrative proceeding is the process that you must undergo to inherit an estate after a loved one has passed without a Will or Trust in place. It is always best to seek guidance from an experienced Estate Planning Attorney as the process can be long and confusing. It requires a lot of paperwork and a small mistake can set you back weeks if not months towards receiving your inheritance. It is also a good idea if you are reading this to consider planning ahead. Whether an administrative proceeding or probate both are costly, time consuming and stressful. By setting up a Trust you may be able to avoid ending up in court all together. Call us today for a free consultation, we can help you with your administrative proceeding, probate or planning ahead to avoid ending up in court.