After your attorney retired or died, his staff should have mailed the original wills to you and your husband. Of course, they may have tried that. If you moved without telling your attorney, then his staff had no way to return your original wills. If they could not find you, they should have done one of two things.
When the parent or guardian of a child dies, the probate case may also address the child’s care and material needs. However, this only happens if there isn’t a surviving guardian or spouse who can care for the child.
Ask employees at the records clerk's office how to locate and access the file. Once you have the file, search it for the name of any lawyer or law firm that is listed as attorney of record for the deceased. Copy this information.
If the death was unexpected and there are immediate needs that must be addressed, you’ll need to call a local estate planning attorney about your options after you’ve ensured the child, dependent, or animal is cared for.
The family should check with the decedent’s attorney or accountant to see if they have the original or a copy. The family should also check with the bank where the decedent maintained an account to see if one may be located in a safe deposit box.
10 Things to Know After the Death of a Loved One. A power of attorney is no longer valid. Many people believe that, as the power of attorney , they continue to have the power to administer an estate following the death of a loved one. This simply is not the case. A power of attorney is no longer valid after death.
Holding the assets of the decedent in an effort to prevent creditors from reclaiming their debt is a risky proposition. Creditors have the right, after enough time passes, to petition the court to open the probate estate themselves.
Many people believe they don’t need to open an estate because their loved one did not have a lot of money. The mistake with this belief is that the debts and taxes of the decedent often go unpaid while assets are distributed. The family is then surprised when a creditor or the IRS shows up looking to recover their claim.
If there are insufficient assets in the estate to satisfy all the debts or tax obligations of the decedent, those debts and obligations do not become the responsibility of family and friends. Many will assume responsibility, believing it is the right thing to do, but they are not legally required to do so.
Assets need to be protected. Following the death of a loved one, there is often a period of chaos. This, coupled with grieving, presents a unique opportunity for those bent on personal benefit. It is important for the family, even before the opening of an estate, to protect all assets that belonged to the decedent.
If you have questions about the management of your loved one’s estate or the probate process, call us anytime at (888) 694-1761 to get answers.
If your wills are in your attorney’s safe, you do not have to worry about losing them. You may even be concerned that certain family members may go so far as to destroy your will to get a larger inheritance. If the will is in your attorney’s safe, that will not happen. In your case, this backfired.
Your wills are still valid, but they won't do your children much good unless they can find the originals. A photocopy of a will can be probated, but someone could contest the will by claiming that the original was revoked instead of just being lost.
A lot of attorneys offer to keep the original wills they prepare for their clients, at no charge. They do this so they can probate the estates of their clients. When a client dies, their children read the copy of the will and call the attorney whose name is stamped in big bold letters on the first page.
You may be better off avoiding a wild goose chase and hiring another, younger, attorney to revise your estate plan. Wills do not avoid probate. After either you or your husband dies, the survivor between the two of you can collect the decedent’s estate outside of probate, if you own everything together as joint tenants or as community property with right of survivorship, but when the survivor dies, the estate will have to be probated in the courts. You can avoid probate, and probate fees, by getting a revocable trust. Since you need new wills anyway, you should see a new attorney who can advise you on all of your options.
However, if the deceased parent did not make a will and had more than one child, it is common for the surviving spouse to receive one-third of the estate; the other two-thirds typically pass to her children in equal shares.
Parent Did Not Leave a Will. When a parent does not leave a will, she is said to have died "intestate.". Children may have inheritance rights under certain circumstances if their parent dies without a will, particularly in states that are not community property states. In community property states, a surviving spouse is generally entitled ...
If a parent left a will and left her child out, but did not explicitly disinherit her child, the child may have a right to an inheritance because it may be assumed the parent omitted her child by accident.
Parent Left a Will. Generally, children are entitled to receive whatever their parent devises to them in a last will and testament. The only time a devise to children may be invalid is if the parent left more to her children than she was allowed to by law.
However, a surviving spouse may not be entitled to the same amount in states that are not community property states -- known as common-law states. In these states, if a parent with one child did not make a will, but was married when she died, her surviving spouse may be entitled to at least half of the estate.
A parent's estate may be probated whether she left a will or not. Probate courts help divide property according to a will or the inheritance laws of a particular state. If a parent left a will, and the will was admitted to a probate court, children typically have the right to demand an accounting of their parent's assets from the executor ...
Will Contests. Children also have a right to contest a parent's will if they have valid legal grounds. For example, if a child was left out of a will and believes her parent's will is invalid because her parent was controlled by another person while making it -- or lacked the capacity to understand what she was doing while making it -- ...
Call the lawyers who represented other parties in any lawsuits or disputes in which the deceased was involved. Opposing lawyers may remember whether the deceased consulted a lawyer whose name may not have made it on to final documents.
Go to the county courthouse in the county where the deceased person lived. Search the civil litigation, family law and criminal court records by party name to see whether any records contain the deceased person's name. If the deceased ever sued someone, got sued by someone, got divorced, got arrested or cited for a traffic violation, the county courthouse should have a file on the event. Ask employees at the records clerk's office how to locate and access the file. Once you have the file, search it for the name of any lawyer or law firm that is listed as attorney of record for the deceased. Copy this information.
Get out all the signed legal documents that were found among the deceased's property and look for any signatures that were notarized. Go to the county assessor's office in the county where the deceased person owned real property and search for notarized deed records. Signatures on deeds, divorce settlement agreements and affidavits are examples of documents that require notarization. If the deceased's signature was notarized, that means that he signed the document before a notary public. Where you find a notarized signature, make note of the name, location and commission number of the Notary Public.
Ask them if they know about events in the deceased's life that would have required legal representation, like an arrest or a lawsuit. Follow up on any leads.
Call the contact telephone numbers that were listed for the attorneys whose names you found in the court records.If the telephone numbers are invalid, call the state bar association for the state in which the lawyers practiced and ask to speak to the person in charge of membership records. If the lawyer is still a member, the state bar association should have her contact information.
A signed acknowledgment of paternity form, filed in court. The biological father can also initiate paternity testing following the death of the custodial parent. States have specific procedures for acknowledging paternity of a child. For information about what to expect when you initiate paternity testing, refer to your state's child custody ...
Non-custodial parent, if paternity has been acknowledged. Grandparents. Other relatives, such as aunts, uncles or cousins. Family friends such as godparents or neighbors. The state. That last one stands out as the least favorable option. However, if there are no alternatives, the child could become a ward of the state.
However, if there are no alternatives, the child could become a ward of the state. When this happens, the child enters the foster system. Unfortunately, there is no way for concerned family members to choose the specific foster home or even the location.
As mentioned above, the non-custodial parent may be entitled to child custody if a custodial parent dies. However, for this to happen, paternity has to have been established. 1 
If the decedent left an estate plan, that plan should directly address such issues. But if it doesn’t, or if there is no plan, you’ll have to act. If the death was unexpected and there are immediate needs that must be addressed, you’ll need to call a local estate planning attorney about your options after you’ve ensured the child, dependent, or animal is cared for. In these situations, you may have to ask a court to issue emergency orders to ensure the protection of the minors or dependents.
As a general rule, the estate is responsible for any debts that arise after the death and throughout the estate settlement process. In practical terms, this means that if you personally incur expenses when you, for example, pay for pet food to care for the decedent’s pets that were left behind, you can bill the estate to receive compensation for those expenses. The estate won’t pay you back immediately (and you’ll have to wait for the estate representative to be appointed and begin paying estate debts), but you’re entitled to be compensated for your actions.
This process begins when you file a document (usually called a petition or application) with the probate court in the county in which the decedent lived. The document will ask the court to open a new probate case and name an estate administrator to manage it. When you file the petition, you usually ask the court to name you as executor, but you can also ask the court to name someone else.
This process begins when you file a document (usually called a petition or application) with the probate court in the county in which the decedent lived.
After you’ve transferred the body to a mortuary or similar facility, you’ll also have to begin preparing for a funeral, cremation, or burial ceremony. You can usually wait a couple of days or more before you begin making these plans, and can use that time to determine if the decedent left behind any instructions. Follow the decedent’s wishes, if you know them, or the instructions left behind in the estate planning documents. If you don’t have guidance, you’ll have to make the plans on your own, or coordinate with other family members and loved ones.
Within a few days of the death or transfer to a mortuary or coroner’s office, you’ll want to contact the person who has control of the remains and request copies of the death certificate. State laws on who can obtain certified copies differ, but if a court has already named an executor or estate administrator, it will be that person’s job to obtain copies. If there is no court appointed representative, it will be up to a family member to obtain the certified copies of the certificate.
In this process, anyone who believes they are entitled to some of the estate can claim that property without the court’s involvement by creating a sworn document, called an affidavit, that states what property you’re entitled to. You don’t have to file the affidavit with the court, but you must use it when you claim the property. For example, if you inherit money that’s currently in the decedent’s bank account, you can present the proper affidavit to the bank and they will transfer the money to you. (It’s worthwhile to note that you have to complete an affidavit under the penalty of perjury. So, if you lie in the affidavit and claim property that you’re not entitled to, you can be charged with a crime for your actions.)
You'll need the help of others, ranging from professionals like lawyers or CPAs, who can advise you on financial matters, to a network of friends and relatives, to whom you can delegate tasks or lean on for emotional support. You may take the lead in planning the funeral and then hand off the financial details to the executor. Or you may be the executor, which means you'll oversee settling the estate and spend months, maybe even years, dealing with paperwork.
Contact customer service and tell the representative that you're closing the account on behalf of a deceased relative. You'll need to provide a copy of the death certificate to do this, too. Keep records of accounts you close, and inform the executor of any outstanding balances on the cards.
If your loved one had a CPA, contact her ; if not, hire one. The estate may have to file a tax return, and a final tax return will need to be filed on the deceased's behalf. “Getting the taxes right is an important part of this,” Harbison says.
Share the list with the executor so that important expenses like the mortgage, taxes and utilities are taken care of while the estate is settled.
When someone you love dies, the job of handling those personal and legal details may fall to you. It's a stressful, bureaucratic task that can take a year or more to complete, all while you are grieving the loss. The amount of paperwork can take survivors by surprise.
To do this, call 911 soon after she passes and have her transported to an emergency room where she can be declared dead and moved to a funeral home. If your family member died at home under hospice care, a hospice nurse can declare him dead.
Send out a group text or mass email, or make individual phone calls to let people know their loved one has died. To track down all those who need to know, go through the deceased's email and phone contacts. Inform coworkers and the members of any social groups or church the person belonged to. Ask the recipients to spread the word by notifying others connected to the deceased. Put a post about the death on social media.
Dealing with a family member’s death can be a double cruelty. There is the emotional loss. Then, that’s often followed by the monumental task of dealing with the deceased’s estate—you might have to figure out how to sell their home (here’s how to find a real estate agent in your area) and sort through any property or possessions left behind—especially if there’s no will.
We’ve gone over the profitable elements of an estate. But remember, an estate includes debts as well. According to the Federal Trade Commission, in the U.S., family members of the deceased are not responsible for paying the deceased’s debts. (That’s in most cases.) Debts should be paid from the deceased’s estate.
If someone dies without a will, the probate court appoints an administrator to distribute the assets and close out the estate. Usually, this person is next of kin, such as a spouse or child. After receiving a letter of administration (called " letter of testamentary " if there is a will), the administrator pays off the deceased's debts ...
If you don't have a will, it is especially important to understand what will happen to your estate upon your death. In the rare instance that no next of kin is found, your hard-earned assets may even end up in the state's hands.
The next of kin may need a next of kin affidavit, a notarized document that establishes the heirs to estate property. Depending on the jurisdiction, this affidavit may be sufficient to transfer some types of property legally to the heir; real property, however, usually requires further documentation to transfer ownership.
Proving who is next of kin requires proof of identity such as a birth certificate or government-issued photo identification. An affidavit of someone who can swear to your blood relationship with the decedent may also be required.
Next of Kin Defined. Your next of kin relatives are your children, parents, and siblings, or other blood relations. Since next of kin describes a blood relative, a spouse doesn't fall into that definition. Still, if you have a surviving spouse, they are first in line to inherit your estate if you die without a will.
Overall, to avoid assets from falling into hands you didn't intend—whether it's the state or your own relatives—your best bet is to execute a last will and testament. By doing so, you'll have peace of mind now and save your loved ones bureaucratic hassle and even potential arguments later.
Next, come parents and then siblings. State law varies but, generally, further next of kin include: The "great" generations also may inherit under some state intestacy laws—great-grandchildren, great-grandparents, and great-aunts and great-uncles. If there are no other surviving heirs, cousins may inherit as well.