Is anyone here familiar with inheritance laws?

[Annabellarose]

Is anyone here familiar with inheritance laws? I'll throw this situation and the subsequent questions out there and see what you guys think, if you choose to comment.

A husband and a wife have 12 children. They buy a small farm; 9-12 acres or so with a house and a barn. The wife dies in 1978 and everything becomes the husband's, then the husband dies in 1992. They did not have a will. Fast forward to 2011; there are only 4 living children (1 with no current spouse that never had children, 2 with surviving spouses and surviving children, 1 with only surviving children), 3 deceased children with surviving spouses (2 with surviving children, 1 with a surviving spouse that never had children), 4 deceased children that only have surviving children (no surviving spouses), and 1 deceased child that never had a spouse or children. Would that mean that the money from the sale of the farm would be divided equally into 11 shares (a 1/11 share to all of the living children or their surviving spouses or their surviving children? Are surviving spouses entitled to their deceased spouse's (one of the 12 children) portion? Are surviving children entitled to their deceased parent's (one of the 12 children) portion?

 

[Jill]

I'm not an attorney and am not giving legal advice. I have done advanced work in estate planning through the American College and do some work on the financial level in this area when it comes to my career.

As I understand it, the laws really vary from state to state when someone dies intestate (dying without a will). I do not know how it works in KY... It's controlled at the state level, with some very large differences to be found.

Has that property not ever been re-titled / deed transferred since the husband in 1992?

If the title did legally transfer and vested to another person or persons, I think the proceeds of the sale are the right of the title owners after any liens are satisfied.

 

[Kim]

I am an attorney - although in Canada, not the US. You really need to contact an attorney in the state in question and provide him/her with all of the relevant details as things like this are extremely situation-specific. I can tell you with certainty that you will not get reliable advice/information from an internet forum.

Good luck!

 

[Annabellarose]

Has that property not ever been re-titled / deed transferred since the husband in 1992?

Nothing was changed after the wife/mother died and, again, nothing was changed after the husband/father died. The deed is still in both of their names as if they were both still alive; the deed was never changed.

I was told by my attorney (different situation, when my father died) that Kentucky is a "survivorship state". Sooooo...we were sort of, kind of "assuming" that the property became his upon her death and the children's (and to be divided equally amongst the children) upon his death.

If the title did legally transfer and vested to another person or persons, I think the proceeds of the sale are the right of the title owners after any liens are satisfied.

There are no liens on the property.

 

[Jill]

I think you should speak with an estate planning attorney (vs. one who doesn't specialize). It shouldn't have to be a long appointment, but I think you need some legal advice. I know when I was looking for attorneys I could recommend to clients w/ estate planning legal needs, I interviewed a number before finding a couple local practices I thought would work well. It's not necessarily the best to go to a general practice, the person who handled your house closing, etc., but rather one who works in estate planning as a specialty. Best of luck!

 

[Annabellarose]

I am an attorney - although in Canada, not the US. You really need to contact an attorney in the state in question and provide him/her with all of the relevant details as things like this are extremely situation-specific. I can tell you with certainty that you will not get reliable advice/information from an internet forum.
Good luck!

I am NOT attempting to obtain "sound legal advice" on an internet message board. I actually do have an appointment with an attorney on the 30th, I was just wondering if anyone might have something to share. It is one of those situations where I am going to be laying awake all night long every night for the next two weeks worrying about it (Jill talks about doing stuff like that, right Jill? LOL) and wondering about it and I know that some of the members of L'il Beginnings are in Kentucky, some of the members of L'il Beginnings are attorneys, and A LOT of the members of L'il Beginnings are property/farm owners.

 

[Jill]

I'd do just what you're doing -- ask for input from those who might know for peace of mind and see the attorney when the appointment time is here

 

[Annabellarose]

I'd do just what you're doing -- ask for input from those who might know for peace of mind and see the attorney when the appointment time is here

EXACTLY! LOL I will definitely see the attorney (making an appointment with the attorney was the FIRST thing that I thought of/did) and follow his advice, I just wondered if anyone here (this is really the only place on the www that I hang out at) had any thoughts, opinions, etc. that they would like to share. Also, like I said, a lot of horse people are land owners (which makes horse ownership a lot easier) and are probably more likely to have encountered a similar situation.

My mother is the wife of/I am the daughter of one of the deceased children and one of the remaining living children (my aunt) has told us that my mother is either not entitled to my father's portion at all (because he is dead) or that she would only be entitled to a "child's portion" of his portion (whatever that means! LOL). If I had to guess (but I certainly do not know) I would say that my father's estate is entitled to his portion (but, is it?). I actually do not want the property to be sold, but...it is not up to me.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Recently had our will made. In Oklahoma, if spouse dies and there is no will, the living spouse gets all. When that spouse dies the estate is divided among the children. Spouses of children get nothing.

If the children are not living it is divided among their children.

 

[shelia]

My understanding is it is divided up between all living children. Not spouses of children or grandchildren. If there are no living children then the grandchildren would be next in line.

However, If the surviving parent remarries and then dies it would then go to the new spouse instead of the children.

 

[Kim]

Glad you have an appointment with an Attorney. Sorry, did not mean to offend, just meant to convey that it's important not to rely on someone else's experience as facts are always different. Hope you get the answer you're looking for!

 

[bonloubri]

I am not an attorney but I am going through a similar situation. My youngest brother passed away. He had no wife or children and no will. As his sister I am his next of kin. We did have a older brother who is deceased and has one son. Estate is being divided equally between my nephew and me. If our older brother had more than one child still surviving, I would have received half and they would have received half to be split between them. It goes by direct decendants not spouses of them. This is what I was told by my attorney in Florida.

 

[Just Us N Texas]

I am originally from Ky. When my grandfather died everything was given to my grandmother. When she died, everything was divided equally to her children, except for the two that were deceased. Their 1/4 (4 kids) was given to their surviving children.

When my husband passed, the estate was 1/2 mine, 1/2 my children's. My grandfather was older, and he had a will. My husband was middle aged, and did not have a will. Hope this helps a little.

 

[weebiscuit]

My mother passed away two years ago and my father is 85. What I was told is that if I die before my father, my husband does NOT inherit my share of the estate, but instead it would skip my husband and be divided among my three grown children.

This probably doesn't help, but it's just another tidbit in the inheritance law nightmare! LOL!