Walk It Through: After The Funeral
No will, a spouse and children, a small estate affidavit and a crash that caused the death.
A father dies without a will, leaving a wife and two children.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One family after one death. Formal probate, creditors' claims, real estate, and how wrongful death damages are measured and divided 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.
- Exempt propertyProperty of a debtor that cannot be attached, levied on or sold to pay a judgment, such as a residence up to $50,000, one vehicle up to $5,000 and household goods up to $4,000.
- Intestate estateWhat passes when a person dies without a will. The surviving spouse takes all of it if there are no surviving issue, and one-half if there are.
- IssueA person's descendants, who take the part of an intestate estate not passing to the spouse, equally if all of the same degree of kinship, and otherwise by representation.
- AgentThe person a power of attorney authorizes to act for the principal, who acts in good faith, within the authority granted, loyally and in the principal's best interest, and keeps a record of every transaction.
- Small estate affidavitThe affidavit a successor presents, thirty days after a death and countersigned by the probate judge, to collect property from a probate estate worth no more than $45,000.
- Wrongful actAn act, neglect or default causing a death that would have let the injured person sue had they lived, which makes the person responsible liable to an action for damages.