About Estate Law
Estate law may appear complex, and it is a topic that most people do not want to talk about. After all, death is usually the last thing on someone's mind, but it is a reality. Therefore, you must educate yourself about estate law, if you want to protect your asset as well as your heirs in the future.
Estate Definition
An estate are assets that you own either whole or in part. A deceased person estate comprised of everything they owned before distribution to their decedents in a will.
Heirs
An heir is the person who inherits assets from a deceased person. An heir could inherit the estate of another person by law, or they could inherit the property because they are a lineal descendant, as in the case of a son, daughter, or a grandchild. Someone can also be a collateral heir as in the case of a sibling, niece, cousins etc.
Probate Court
When it comes to estate laws, the laws vary from state to state, but they all share one commonality that is the probate process. Probate is simply the transferring of a deceased persons possession to a beneficiary such as an heir as dictated by the will. This process entails accounting and tabulation of all assets, debts, credit and any taxes owed by the deceased person. After the court has ascertained, the amount remaining after deducting amount owed that amount goes to the heir. Most states have adopted the Uniform Probate Code (UPC), which gives the surviving spouse all rights if no will is in place.
Deceased Wishes
Often, the wishes of the decedents are adhered to with no problems. However, there are instances when a surviving spouse may be eligible for an inheritance even when the will states otherwise. In these types of situation, the surviving spouse has to determine whether their state goes by common-law or community-property law. States that use common law rule will base the will on the person’s name on the property or the purchaser. While in a community property state, the law considers the property acquired during the marriage and exclude items prior to the marriage. Although a spouse usually has legal rights to property, there are no stipulations in the law that gives children and grandchildren the same rights. However, the court will take into consideration varying factor such as the will origination date and the childbirth.