Question regarding wills.

This is only a hypothetical question, no one I know will die soon or has recently died.

My question regarding wills is more about if someone doesn't write a will.

What happens to that person's property if a will is not written?

Also, what is the difference between a regular will and a "living will"?

Please post your informed answers for the lurkers in reply.

Thank you.

and he had no will. so everything went to his kids. he had a girlfriend, and if we were jerks we could have made her life hard... but that's not what our dad would have wanted. once we were able, we turned the car over to midge. Frankly there wasn't much else. The money in his bank accounts went toward the funeral. his motor home was sold and the money will go towards a headstone.

Now that that's settled ....

It depends on state law what happens with the estate of an intestate person, but generally it is the wife and/or children who inherit.

A living will involves the living: that involves what will happen while the person is alive but unable to express choices, specifically whether and how much life support they wish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intestacy

With video cameras everywhere, probably people should just video themselves telling what they want to happen to their stuff, and then put it in a safe deposit box

based on table of consanguinity

http://www.sleepyhollowcemetery.org/PDF/consanguinity.pdf

the laws of intestacy vary from state to state, but it's a good bet that whatever someone leaves will go to their kids or, if childless, to their siblings, or the siblings' children (if no siblings are left).

A regular will disposes of personal and real property - money and land and personal stuff - that the testator has accumulated in his name during his life.

A living will is something that purports to direct how you want your medical treatment handled if you are unable to speak for yourself. Most often, it addresses the matter of death - i.e., being kept alive by artificial means if there is no valid prognosis for recovery.

Don't confuse a Living Will with a Health Care Power of Attorney, which is a completely different, more complex, and far more inclusive document that gives your agents - people you select, in order - the power to make your medical decisions for you, if you are unable to do so.

And a HCPOW keeps the agents safe harmless from any bills incurred by you during yoru illness.

So, CW, whose homework are you helping with today?

Just asking.

I wanted to start a conversation to combat the GOP lies about healthcare.

In the same place. The will should be left with someone who will notified of your death and can produce it after you are gone. The Living Will and Health Care Power of Attorney, plus any directives as to how your remains should be handled, should be given to people who will be handling things for you while you are still alive.

After one of my elderly relatives passed away and the family had hashed out all the details on the funeral, the casket, the viewing, etc. and that was all over and done with, his attorney was contacted about the estate. The attorney not only had the will, he had the contract with the crematorium for the service of disposing of the body!

The deceased did not want to be buried, he wanted to save the family the hassle and had pre-purchased a cremation. But because he left those instructions withe attorney without notifying anyone (I don't think the attorney knew that was in the envelope with the will), his wishes were not followed. I was too young to remember all the details of how they handled it - I don't think they dug him up - but I remember the hoopla it caused.

When I had surgery (all six times in the last fifteen years) I gave a copy of my Living Will to the doctor and the facility. My choices are significantly different than my husband's so I did not want to leave it up to him to have to enforce them. Giving my directives to the caregivers removed it from my husband's hands. I also have a designated Health Care Advocate, but she is not here in town and would only be contacted if I went into a vegetative state, but I gave copies of that form to the caregivers, too, so they could contact her if there were need.

Your attorney should have a copy of the Last Will and Testament, and the surviving relatives should know who the lawyer is and that he has the document.

As for Living Wills and Health Care Powers Of Attorney - NEVER leave them with your attorney, unless he's a close family member. You must execute several certified copies of either document, and your physician should have one, each of the designated agents should have a copy of it, and you should have a copy at home, in a place where others can find it.

Mine's on the refrigerator, in a sealed envelope. So is my will...................

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If someone dies without a will, the laws of the state that they lived in control. This applies to everything...land, homes, stocks, bonds, personal effects. A living will is a different animal. It lays out how a person wants to spend their last days...it relates to the kind of end of life care they want to have. It is better to have a will than to let the slow state bureaucracy take over. In cases, as in my family, where there was one son that my Dad wanted nothing of his to go to, a will is essential because if the state takes over, everything is split evenly ( assuming there is no wife in the picture). Have I confused you enough? That is my role as a lawyer, you know! :-)