What Occurs When Someone Dies Without a Will?

In the event that you die without having created a will, the state of Nevada will determine what happens to your possessions and assets. To avoid this issue, it’s highly recommended that you create a will, which is very easy to do. To understand just how important it is to make a will, you should know more about what happens when someone dies without having done so.

What Is a Will?

Wills are a way for people to determine how their estates are handled once they die. When you’re thinking about creating a will, it’s important to understand that this document can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. While there are some legal limitations to wills that could require some of your estate to be placed through the probate process once you die, you’ll have much more control over what happens to these assets than if you decided not to create a will.

What Happens When You Die Without a Will?

Dying without a will is referred to as intestate, which essentially means that state laws determine what happens to your assets and property. If you live in Nevada but have a property in California, the California state laws would determine what happens to that specific property. The laws typically differ depending on if you were married or single. These laws could also change if you have children. When single, your parents would receive the entire estate. It could also be divided among siblings if your parents are no longer alive. If you were married, it’s likely that all of your assets would go to your spouse. If there are surviving children but no spouse, the estate would likely be divided evenly among the children.

Why You Should Contact an Estate Planning Lawyer

An estate planning lawyer will be able to help you create a well-written will that’s legally ironclad. They can also point out any mistakes that could create issues down the road. If you’re thinking about creating a will or a more complex estate plan, you’ll want to speak with an estate planning lawyer in Las Vegas to ensure that everything’s in order.

How to Make Probate Less Painful

Probate is a process in which a will is verified and entered into the public record. At that point, an executor is allowed to inventory and distribute assets, close accounts and pay taxes. This process can take up to several years to complete, but you can take steps now to make probate as easy as possible for your family.

Hold Assets Outside of Your Estate

Only assets that are in your estate are subject to probate. Creating a trust or using a beneficiary designation are ways to take assets out of your estate, which means that they can be transferred immediately upon your death. Assets such as a home, a bank account or a car can be titled in a manner that allows them to be transferred to a beneficiary as soon as you die.

Communicate With Your Loved Ones

Communicating with your loved ones can make it easier for everyone to understand why your estate plan is structured a certain way. When your intentions are clear, it can reduce the chances of a spouse, a child or anyone else filing a legal challenge to a will. Effective communication can be especially important if you are part of a blended family. In such a scenario, conflicts between your children and your second spouse could find their way into probate court.

Find Legal Counsel to Represent Your Interests

A probate attorney in Las Vegas may be willing to help represent your estate in court after you pass. An attorney may be able to handle creditor claims in a timely manner or prevent an executor from making mistakes that could delay the settling of your estate. When done properly, probate may only take a few days or weeks to complete.

The Financial Benefits of Estate Planning Professionals

You should consider creating an estate plan to be a mandatory part of being an adult. Whether you are 18 or 88, there are many benefits that you can derive from having a will, trust or medical directive. However, it is important that you create this plan with the help of a professional. Otherwise, you could be losing money that would otherwise go to your beneficiaries.

Benefit From the Experience a Professional Possesses

Whether you want to work with an attorney or someone else, you can benefit from the experience that individual possesses. It is likely that he or she is familiar with your general estate planning needs and can make recommendations that are in your best interest. For instance, you may have heard that creating a trust is a good way to protect assets. However, you may be able to save thousands of dollars by using beneficiary designations or other tools instead.

Attorneys or Financial Entities Can Act as Trustees

You may think that it’s best for your spouse or oldest child to serve as an executor or trustee. However, the truth is that a representative from a local bank or your attorney are actually the best people for that role. This is because they don’t have any emotional ties to your family members that could cloud their judgment. Ultimately, they likely won’t make mistakes that might lead to protracted legal battles.

An Attorney Can Review a Plan as It’s Currently Constructed

An estate planning attorney Las Vegas may be willing to look at any plan that you have created yourself. He or she may point out mistakes that you made in filling out or executing plan documents. By fixing errors now, it becomes much easier and less expensive to make sure that your plan truly meets your needs.

Why Single Parents Need to Take Estate Planning Seriously

When a mother of father passes on, it may be possible for the other parent to pick up the slack when it comes to caring for a child. However, if a child has no other parent, he or she could be placed in a foster home or any other number of environments. By creating an estate plan, a parent can help support a son or daughter even after that parent dies.

Include a Will and Trust

A will can provide clear instructions as to how a child should be cared for. For instance, it could state that an aunt or a grandfather will ideally have custody or significant visitation rights. A trust could spell out how money from an IRA or life insurance policy should be used to support the child. A trust is ideal because it puts money and other assets under the control of a trusted figure as opposed to someone appointed by the court.

Don’t Leave Assets to Minors Directly

It is never a good idea to leave an asset directly to a child. This is because someone will need to manage it on that child’s behalf until he or she reaches the age of majority. Whoever oversees the asset will need to spend time and money accounting for how it is used and issuing other reports to a judge. Any funds spent on such tasks will usually come from the parent’s estate.

An Attorney May Help With Estate Planning

Working with an estate planning attorney in Las Vegas could make it easier to create or review plan documents. A financial professional may also be able to ensure that a plan meets the needs of the parent and child both now and into the future.

You Only Need One Signed Copy of Your Will

Your will is one of the most important parts of your estate plan, and without it, assets may not go where you intended them to. It is also important that your will is created and executed in accordance with state law. Otherwise, it may be vulnerable to a court challenge from a beneficiary or other interested party. In some cases, legal challenges are raised because there are multiple versions of a signed will in existence.

Keep and Sign an Official Copy of Your Will

You are only required to keep one signed copy of your will at any time. If you want, you can make copies of this document that can be kept in a safe deposit box or with your probate attorney in Las Vegas. The reason why you don’t want to sign multiple copies of your will is that it could change in the future. Therefore, there is a chance that someone could have an old version of your will and submit it to a probate court.

It Can Take Time and Money to Resolve a Legal Challenge

There is a good chance that the most recent version of your will is the one that will be accepted by a probate judge. However, it could take more time and money to ensure that your final instructions are carried out. The money spent on legal fees will come out of your estate, which means that beneficiaries will get a smaller inheritance.

Don’t Forget to Review Your Estate Plan

Regularly reviewing your estate plan can make it easier to catch issues that could interfere with its timely execution. While you can perform a review on your own, it may be best to do so with an attorney, financial adviser or other qualified professional.