Summary: We all probably have slightly
different ideas about what we want to happen to our wealth when we die. Chances
are fairly high, though, that few if any of us have, as out preferred plan,
leaving everything to the government. However, that can and does happen. It
happens when people who have no immediately known living relatives fail to
create an estate plan. Having all of your assets revert to the government is
just one of many unfavorable outcomes that can occur as a result of failing to
plan. You can avoid these and take control of your legacy by taking the
pro-active step of getting a complete estate plan without delay. Chances are, most everyone knows the word “cheat” and what it means. On the other hand, chances are that most everyone is not familiar with the word ”escheat.” Escheat, as it turns out, has nothing to do with cheat. The concept goes all the way back to the system of feudalism that existed in Medieval times. It meant that, in certain situations, a property might, upon the death of the owner, go to a lord or perhaps to the King.
Today, the word still exists in law, and
refers to a circumstance where property reverts back to the treasury of the
state in which it is located. How can the government end up getting your
property when you die? The first thing that has to happen is that you have to
have created no estate plan. If you have executed a valid will or living trust,
then your assets will be distributed according to the instructions you put into
your estate planning document(s). So, if you have a valid plan in place, there
is virtually no way that your assets can escheat to the government. If you have
no plan in place, though, that’s where things can get tricky. In that scenario,
the law says that your assets are to be distributed according to the rules of
intestate succession.
What is “intestate succession”? Intestate
succession means the system for distributing estates when there were no estate
planning documents. The rules of intestate succession were created under the
theory that assets should transfer upon death to a deceased person’s closest
living relatives.
For most people, they die leaving behind
a spouse, children or both. Several others may also be survived by grandchildren,
siblings, parents, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, cousins and so on. The
intestate succession system starts with the closest relatives (spouse/children)
and works outward from there in search of a relative to whom the assets can be
distributed. Sometimes, it is exceedingly difficult to find these heirs. One of
the jobs that a professional genealogist might do is finding these long-lost
relatives in complicated cases.
Remember the old screwball comedy movies
from the 1980s and beyond where the film’s main character gets a letter from
out of the blue stating that he/she has inherited a large sum of wealth from
some distant relative he/she barely remembers or didn’t know at all? That can
actually happen. Take the case of a central Florida genealogist named Jerry, as
reported by a news channel from Orlando.
According to Jerry, an inability to find heirs to instate estates (and the
assets in those estates reverting back to the government) “happens more often
than people realize.”
Back in January, Jerry was working on the
estate of Lydia, a Puerto Rican woman who, at the time of her death in 2012,
was a legal resident of New York. When Lydia died, she had no surviving spouse
or children. Jerry had identified her parents and a brother who served in the
Korean War. At the time that Jerry discussed the case with news agencies,
though, no living relatives had been found. If the search fails, then Lydia’s
entire ONE MILLION DOLLARS will go to the State of New York.
Reference:
Bechara, Stephanie. (2018-01-24). Kissimmee genealogist searches for heir to Puerto Rican fortune. Retrieved from: http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2018/1/24/kissimmee_genealogis.html
This article is published by the Legacy Assurance Plan and is intended for general informational purposes only. Some information may not apply to your situation. It does not, nor is it intended, to constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney regarding any specific questions about probate, living probate or other estate planning matters. Legacy Assurance Plan is an estate planning services-company and is not a lawyer or law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. For more information about this and other estate planning matters visit our website at www.legacyassuranceplan.com.
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