09/12/2022
Here’s What Can Happen If You Don’t Have an Estate Plan of Your Own:
If a person passes away without a will or trust, his or her estate assets are distributed according to what is known as intestate succession. As a result, “who gets what” follows a strict formula, with no regard to the actual emotional relationships between you, your spouse, your children, and members of your extended family. What you would have wanted is irrelevant to the state. Your assets must be distributed, and the state has devised a formula to do so.
Losing control over how your assets are distributed after death isn’t the only negative consequence of failing to plan. Without a plan, someone will petition the court for the right to make these important decisions for you. The court could very well decide to choose a person or persons you would never have wanted to have such authority.