Question

“Quite often, when people die, their estates die with them – not because they have done anything wrong, but because they have done nothing." If your estate is small, does it really make a difference if you do nothing? please be detailed.

Answer 1

Doing nothing with one's estate means not making a will or transferring the estate to a living trust before death.

Even if the state is small , there is a need to do a will for various reasons.

If a person dies "Intestate 'or without a will , the estate will be distributed to the deceased's wife, children and other relatives in some proportion as per the state law. The estate share may not go to the persons as per the wish of the deceased. There are other problems of the cost of getting the probate done, the legal issues and time consumed for the process and the uncertainty over the distribution etc.

The existence of a clear will has many advantages like;

1. A person can specifically decide who shall get his asset and who he does'nt want to have a share of those.

2. The legal process of getting the access to the assets by the heirs become simpler and quicker.

3. As person can specify who shall take care of the children. in the absence of a will the court has to decide.

4. A person can plan the estate in a way that given tax savings and reduce tax on inheritance also.

5. In case of small estate , generally the probate in not needed , so there is no extra complexity and no extra cost.

In case a person wants to avoid probate, assets can be placed in a revocable living trust and through that trust the heirs can get the benefits after the death of a person and no probate is required.

So we can say that doing a will or a living trust is important for even a small estate to avoid many future complications and the smooth transfer of assets to the desired heirs.