In a prior post, I explained would happens to your assets if you pass without a Will and were married. Under that scenario, the spouse could be entitled to 
receive all of or a portion of your Estate.
However, for those who are unmarried at the time of their death, or those whose spouses will not be entitled to receive the entire Estate, the assets have to go somewhere and this post will examine that process in more detail.
Florida Statutes Section 732.103 is the statutory hierarchy that explains how assets will be determined when their is no surviving spouse or if the surviving spouse is not entitled to receive the entire estate. In that case, the assets will be distributed as follows in order:
(1) To the children (or descendants) of the person who passed (called “Decedent” in the statute)
(2) If there are no children (or descendants), the Estate passes to the parents of the person who passed in equal parts
(3) If there are neither any children or parents,the siblings and nieces and nephews of the person who passes will be entitled to receive the Estate
(4) If none of the above exist, there is a statutory process for determining which other distant relatives receive a share of the Estate. However, this gets more complicated and should be discussed with an attorney.
If you dont want the government determine how your Estate is distributed, it is advisable to speak with an Attorney about preparing a Will and other simple legal documents in order to ensure that your Estate passes to those individuals that you choose.
Learn more about how Weidner Law can help you prepare a Will HERE
