If your parents die without a Will, what are you entitled to?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If your parents die without a Will, what are you entitled to?
My mother died in 7 years ago; my father 13 years ago. They owned a house and land. I was a minor child at the time. Should I have received anything from the sale?
Asked on September 12, 2011 under Estate Planning, Washington
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If your parents died without a will or a trust, then under the "intestacy laws" of the state of Washington their estates would have been administered through a court proceeding where an administer would have been appointed, an inventory of their estates made and distributed to their heirs in lines of direct succession per a court order.
Meaning, children of your parents (yourself) would have ended up inheriting assets of their estates as being in next line of succession when your father passed without a will or a trust. I suggest that you go down to the court house in the county and state where your parents resided when they each passed and see if there was a petition to administer their estates filed.
If so, it is a public document and you can review it to see what transpired.
Good luck.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.