My dad recnetly passed away from a heart attack at work. He was never married and I am his only child. His only assests are his car and my car that is in his name. My aunt and his girlfriend gave his car to someone without me knowing and I was just notifi
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My dad recnetly passed away from a heart attack at work. He was never married and I am his only child. His only assests are his car and my car that is in his name. My aunt and his girlfriend gave his car to someone without me knowing and I was just notifi
My dad recnetly passed away from a heart attack at work. He was never married
and I am his only child. His only assests are his car and my car that is in
his name. My aunt and his girlfriend gave his car to someone without me
knowing and I was just notified that the car broke down, Im unsure what to do
in this case. He had a 401k that only had about 10k in it without a
beneficiary. He never passed in paperwork for his life insurance, so Im told
he doesnt have life insurance. I dont know how to handle all this information
especially because he lived in Massachusetts and I live in NY. He also owed
the IRS money im unsure of the amount but I was told approx 30,000. Am I able
to sue his union because he died of a heart attack at work??
Asked on July 3, 2016 under Estate Planning, New York
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Typically, proceeds from a 401k pass outside of probate directly to the named beneficiary. However, in the case where no beneficiary is listed, then the proceeds are payable to the estate of the deceased. Since your father had no Will, his next of kin woud be the heir(s) who inherits. In this case, it would all go to you, since he had no surviving spouse or other children. That having been said, you would only receive your inheritance after all creditors of the estate have been paid. Accordingly, you would get nothing since the amount owed to the IRS is more than the amount of the insurance proceeds, the only asset.
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