What Types of Things Can Complicate the Handling of a Loved One's Estate?
Posted on: 30 August 2021
Your parent or someone else who was close to you might have recently passed away, and now, you might be wondering about what will be involved in handling their estate. In some cases, handling a loved one's estate can be fairly easy. However, there are some situations in which it can be a lot more complicated. If you are wondering if this will be the case with your deceased loved one's estate, then you might be worried about the different types of things that can complicate matters. These are a few examples.
Your Loved One Had a Lot of Money and Assets
In some cases, it's relatively easy to handle a person's estate simply because they did not have a lot of money or assets when they passed away. If your family member has a large sum of money in the bank or if they owned a lot of property, on the other hand, there are more rules and regulations that you have to follow, and matters will likely be more complicated overall.
There Are Multiple Beneficiaries
In some cases, a person designates just one beneficiary to receive the entirety of their estate when they pass away. This can sometimes seem a bit unfair to other family members, but it can make matters a lot less complicated. If your loved one wanted to leave a little something behind for multiple family members, however, they might have decided to designate you and multiple other family members or other loved ones as beneficiaries. If this is the case, then you will need to make sure that everything is handled properly, fairly, and in accordance with your loved one's wishes, so you might need a little bit of help.
Your Loved One Did Not Have a Will
If your loved one did not leave behind a will — or if they told you orally that they were designating you as their beneficiary but never put this down on paper — then as you can probably imagine, matters can be a bit more complicated. This does not necessarily mean that you will not be the beneficiary or that you will not receive the money and property that your loved one wanted to leave to you, but it does mean that you might need to hire an attorney and provide as much evidence as you can to help prove that your loved one did, in fact, want to leave their estate to you.
Contact a deceased estate lawyer to learn more.
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