What happens to a person’s estate if he or she dies without having a will in place? We share the answer, in our latest video. #estateplanning
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Sarah Siedentopf. I’m an estate planning and probate attorney in Atlanta, Georgia. So, you know you should have a will.
But what happens if you don’t, and you die? Then, we go onto the rules of intestate succession. Each state has its own, even though oftentimes they’re very similar. But for Georgia, this is how it goes: if you die with a spouse and no children, your spouse gets everything. If you die with no spouse but children, your children get everything. If you die with a spouse and children, they have to split things according to an equation. If you have a spouse and one child, they each get half. If you have a spouse and two children, each gets a third. But your spouse can never get less than a third, so even if you have three children, your children will have to split that two-thirds. But let’s say you don’t have a spouse or children. What happens then? That’s when it goes to your parents. If your parents aren’t around, it will go to your siblings. If you don’t have siblings, it goes to your nieces and nephews. If you don’t have any nieces or nephews, it will go to your aunts and your uncles. If you have no aunts and uncles, it’s going to go to your cousins. And, we just sort of trace things out as far as we can. If there’s nobody left at all, it goes to the state of Georgia, which is not what anybody wants. So, that’s what happens if you die without a will in Georgia. If you have any other questions, feel free to give me a call. Thanks.
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