As you may know, creating a will is one of the only ways that you can dictate how your property and assets will be distributed after your death; however, not everyone has the chance to do so before their passing. Fortunately, Tennessee's "intestate succession" laws take this into consideration. If you die before you have the opportunity to create a will, your assets will be passed on to your closest relatives. Only the assets that would have been included in your will will be affected by intestate succession laws, however, as it will typically be limited to the property that you own alone. Assets that may not be affected include, but are not limited to:
- Proceeds from your life insurance
- Funds from your retirement accounts
- Property that you own with another person
- Property that was included in a living trust
- Payable-on-death bank accounts
Who gets what will depend on how many close living relatives you have. For example, if you have children but no spouse, your children would likely inherit everything. If you have parents but no spouse or decedents, your parents would likely inherit everything – and so on and so forth. The probate administration process can be extremely complex when the deceased has not made these provisions for themselves, so you should not hesitate to retain the help of a
Nashville probate lawyer from David Whittaker, Attorney at Law if you have been faced with a similar situation. There is no need to go through this process alone when our firm is here to help, so we encourage you to take the first step today by contacting our office for a free consultation.
To discuss your case with our Nashville probate attorney at no cost to you, call today at (888) 492-4735 or submit a free case evaluation form online.