You may be left uncertain about what happens next, or what actions to initiate next, in the immediate wake of your loved one’s passing. Namely, you may have serious concerns about who will inherit their property and assets, who will manage their overall estate, and more. If you search for clarity with the Florida probate court, they may ask you whether or not your loved one left behind a Last Will and Testament document. Your answer to this question may determine if the court will promptly order intestate succession. With all that being said, please read on to discover when intestate succession must be applied to an estate and how a seasoned Broward County probate lawyer at The Probate Lawyers can help you understand how this process might affect you.
When is the intestate succession hierarchy used in Florida?
If you tell the Florida probate court that your loved one died without a will, or if the judge deems that their document is invalid and unenforceable, they may initiate intestate succession. This is a legal system Florida uses to determine who inherits the deceased’s property and assets, in an effort to ensure that they do not remain unclaimed. After an estate administrator is appointed, and once they resolve the deceased’s outstanding debts, they may distribute the estate according to the following hierarchy:
- There is a surviving spouse with/without shared children: the spouse inherits everything.
- There is a surviving spouse and children from the deceased’s previous relationship: the spouse gets half, and the children get the other half.
- There are surviving children with no spouse: the children divide everything equally.
- There is no spouse, children, or children’s descendants: the parents divide everything equally.
- There are no surviving children, spouse, or parents: the siblings and their descendants inherit the estate.
- There are no surviving immediate relatives: the distant relatives (i.e., grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) inherit the estate.
- There are no surviving distant relatives: the state of Florida assumes ownership of the estate.
What assets are supposed to pass through intestate succession?
You may be surprised to learn that Florida’s intestacy laws only govern certain assets. That is, an estate administrator may only handle what are referred to as probate assets, which are assets owned solely in the deceased’s name and that do not already have a designated beneficiary assigned to them. The most common examples of such assets include individually owned bank accounts, real estate property only titled in the deceased’s name, vehicles, and personal items.
Therefore, there are also non-probate assets. In short, these assets do not need to be overseen by the Florida probate court because they likely already have their established beneficiary designations or ownership structures. Just to name a few examples, this typically applies to life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and transfer-on-death accounts. This means when intestacy laws state that a surviving spouse “inherits everything, it does not include these asset types.
Needless to say, if your loved one passes without a will, it is critical to have a lawyer present during intestate succession to make sure that unintended or unfair distributions are not executed. With all that being said, please do not hesitate to work together with a competent Broward County estate lawyer. The team at The Probate Lawyers will have your best interests at heart always and will fight for justice to reign in your favor.
