Most people tend to assume that their parents have everything together. As adults age, they eventually need to confront their own mortality and create an estate plan. Some people fail to draft a will or other testamentary documents. Their loved ones may then face significant challenges after they die.
Losing a parent can be difficult on its own. It can lead to an assortment of interpersonal and legal challenges if they died without a will. People often struggle more when someone didn’t plan for their eventual passing.
What happens in Minnesota if someone does not have an estate plan at the time of their death?
The law has rules for this situation
Minnesota has specific State statutes describing what should happen with personal property if someone dies without a will. Minnesota’s intestate succession laws help ensure that an individual’s assets pass to their closest family members after they die.
Children can often inherit from an intestate estate, but their ability to do so depends on whether or not their parent who died has a surviving spouse. Their relationship with the surviving spouse also matters, as the rules are different if the surviving spouse is their parent as opposed to a stepparent.
Children of someone who died without a living spouse might inherit the property from their estate jointly with their siblings. Such situations can lead to intense disputes, as family members may disagree about how to value and divide someone’s assets. If someone is the sole child surviving someone who died without a spouse, they might receive the entire estate of their intestate parent.
Learning more about Minnesota’s probate laws can benefit those hoping to convince their parents to engage in estate planning before they die.
