Pricey Harry,
I’m a divorced single mom with three daughters. The older two are married and stay individually from me. The youngest is underneath 18 and lives with each myself and her father (my ex-husband). I at the moment don’t but have a will. If I died, would any of my property go to my ex-husband as he’s additionally a authorized guardian of our youngest daughter?
Pricey reader,
No, your ex-husband wouldn’t get your property, however he would be capable to management your youngest daughter’s share of your property. In case you have been to die with out a will, your probate property would go underneath the legal guidelines of “intestacy.” These are the legal guidelines the state has in place to direct the distribution of a decedent’s property within the absence of a will.
Whereas I don’t know what state you’re in and so can’t test your state’s guidelines, all such legal guidelines direct property to the closest kin of the deceased. In your case, this implies your daughters. Your ex-husband is now not a relative and will get no profit underneath the intestacy legal guidelines of any state.
That mentioned, your ex-husband would take management of your youngest daughter’s one-third share of your property to handle on her behalf till she reaches the age of majority. That’s age 18 in most states, however 19 in Alabama, Colorado, Maryland, or Nebraska, and 21 within the District of Columbia, Indiana, Mississippi, and New York. In case you don’t need this to occur, you may execute a will that appoints a person you select to function trustee to your youngest daughter’s share of your property till she reaches your state’s age of majority, or an older age in the event you choose.
