Walk It Through: No Will
All to the spouse in some families, a first sum plus a share in others, and voluntary administration.
A woman dies without a will, survived by her husband and their son, and the husband has a daughter from before.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
Two deaths in one family. Wills, property that passes outside the estate, and how the voluntary representative pays debts are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Intestate estateWhat passes by law when a person dies without a will. The surviving spouse takes the entire intestate estate when there is no descendant and no parent, or when every descendant is also the spouse's and the spouse has no other.
- Voluntary personal representativeAn interested person who, after 30 days from a death and with no petition for a personal representative filed, files a sworn statement with the court and acts for an estate made up only of personal property, which may include a car the person owned and other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value.