December 2023.
Q: What happens if everyone named in my will is deceased?
A: Under Maryland law, if you are not survived by the beneficiaries named in your will, your estate will be distributed as if you had no will (“intestacy”). Assuming your spouse and children and their descendants (your grandchildren) have already died, this would be as follows:
1) To your parents or the survivor of them, or, if both are deceased, to their descendants (your siblings, or nieces and nephews), or, if none,
2) To your grandparents or the survivor of each pair, or, if both of one pair is deceased, to their descendants (your aunts and uncles, or cousins), or, if none, all to the other pair or the one of them who is living, or to their descendants; or, if none,
3) To your great-grandparents, or, if both of one pair is deceased, to their descendants (your great-aunts and uncles, or cousins), or, if none, to the other pair on that side of your family or to the one of them who is living, or to their descendants; or, if none, all to the great-grandparents on the other side of your family, or, if both of one pair is deceased, to their descendants, or, if none, to the other pair on the other side of your family or to the one of them who is living, or to their descendants; or, if none,
4) To the Board of Education for the county of your residence.
Q) What do I do if I don’t like this?
A: You can name a charity as “taker of last resort” after the people you’ve named in your will. If it’s just that you don’t want someone in that list to receive, we can draft your will so that we follow the pattern above – but exclude the person you don’t want to receive.
For married couples, we usually leave half of the estate to the persons who would take if one spouse died, unmarried and without issue (“descendants”), without a will; and the other half to the persons who would take if the other spouse died, unmarried and without issue, without a will. Sometimes everything goes just to one family. It’s not something to leave to chance, even though it’s not likely to happen.
Think about it – we’ve all heard about those letters that notify you that someone you’ve never met has died and you’re going to receive money – the ones that start “please accept our condolences on the death of this person you don’t know.”
We’re trying to avoid those letters accompanying the distribution of your estate.
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Attorney Tim Barkley
The Tim Barkley Law Offices
One Park Avenue
P.O. Box 1136
Mount Airy
Maryland 21771
(301) 829-3778
Wills & Trusts | Estate Planning | Probates & Estates
Elder Law | Real Estate | Business Planning