With a Will you control how your property will be distributed upon your death and you select who you would like to administer your estate, known as an executor. Without a Will, your property is distributed in accordance with the Connecticut laws of intestacy and administered by an Administrator selected by a Probate Court.
1. The Connecticut Law’s of Intestacy provide the following scenarios upon death. If there is a spouse but no children or living parent, the spouse receives all property.
2. If there are a spouse and children, and all of the decedents’ children are issue of the decedent’s spouse, the spouse gets the 1st $100,000 of estate assets and 1/2 of the remainder of all property and the children that are issue of the spouse get the remaining 1/2 of estate assets in equal shares “per stirpes”. (“per stirpes” means that if a child beneficiary dies, their share goes to their children or descendants, split equally among them). If any of the decedent’s children are not issue of the spouse, the spouse gets 1/2 of all property and the children of the decedent that are not issue of the spouse get the remaining 1/2 of the property in equal shares per stirpes. The children of the spouse get nothing.
3. If there are a spouse and parents but no children, the spouse gets $100,000 and 3/4 of the remainder of all property and the parent or parents of the decedent get the remaining 1/4 of the property.
4. In a situation where there are children but no spouse, all the property goes to the children in equal shares per stirpes.
5. If there are parents or a parent but no spouse or children, all the decedent’s property goes to the parents.
6. If there are brothers and sisters but no spouse, children or parents, all the decedent’s property goes to the decedent’s brothers and sisters or children of a predeceased brother or sister in equal shares per stirpes.
7. If none of the above scenarios apply, all property goes in equal shares to the next of kin of the same degree of kinship living on the date of the decedent’s death and they share equally in the estate.
As you can see, without a will, there are various scenarios that you may have never contemplated or desired occur with your estate assets. Another downside to not having a will involves the requirement that an appointed Administrator obtain a bond to protect estate assets until required distributions are made, the cost of which is paid out of the estate.
With a Will, you are able to indicate that no bond is required thus avoiding an unnecessary cost being paid from estate assets. With a Will, you can also name a guardian for your minor children.
A Will provides control, predictability and peace of mind of knowing that your estate assets will be distributed as you intended while avoiding and reducing family conflict.
