Have you ever wondered what happens to your assets if you don’t have a will? Do you know someone in Palm Beach who passed away without a will? When someone dies without a will in Delray Beach it is known as dying intestate. To determine who inherits the Palm Beach estate, Florida Courts utilize intestate succession to find the rightful heirs. Here are a few things you need to know about Florida intestacy.
- An intestate estate in Palm Beach is any part of a decedent’s estate that is not effectively disposed of by a will in Florida.
- The death of the decedent is what vests the heir’s rights to the intestate estate.
1. What if you are Spouse of someone who died without a will in Florida?
- The intestate share of a surviving spouse of a Boca Raton estate is the entire estate if there are no surviving descendants of the decedent.
- The surviving spouse also gets the entire estate if the decadent is survived by descendants in Palm Beach that are also descendants of the surviving spouse.
- The surviving spouse may only get 50% of the Florida estate if there are surviving non-lineal descendants of the decedent or the spouse.
2. What is the share of the heirs in Florida?
- The share of the heirs in Florida is the part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse.
- In Florida, descendants inherit first.
- If there are no descendants then it passes to the decedents mother and father.
- if there is none of the foregoing, it then passes to brothers and sisters of the decedent.
- And it goes on down the line to grandparents, then uncles and aunts etc.
3. What if you are an adopted child of a decedent who died intestate in Florida?
- Under Florida Law adopted children are deemed descendants of the adopting parents
While these are just a handful of topics and not an exhaustive list; Palm Beach probate attorneys are well versed in all of the issues regarding an inheritance that passes through intestacy and can help if you or someone you know has to deal with a loved one who died without a will.