Legal Matters
Recently, a friend of mine said that he needed a will because, if he died without one, everything he owned would go to the state. I reassured him that although a will does allow for more control over what happens to one’s property after one heads to their reward, the lack of a will does not mean that the sheriffs will immediately descend and start the auction. Alabama law provides for an orderly transfer of assets to classes of heirs specified in the Code of Alabama. In simpler terms, if you don’t have a will, state law specifies which of your relatives gets your stuff, and which ones get first crack at it.
A spouse, if one has one, gets priority. If one has a spouse, but no children and one’s parents are dead, then the spouse gets everything. If one leaves a spouse and children, then the spouse gets the first $50,000 from the estate, and then the remainder of the estate is divided in half. The spouse gets one half, and the kids divide up the other half in equal shares.
If one dies with no spouse, but with children, then the children take the estate in equal shares. If one dies without a spouse or children, then the estate will go to one’s parents in equal shares or, if they are no longer around, to one’s siblings, in equal shares. If there are no siblings, then there is still the chance that one’s estate might go to more distant relatives.
Only if one has no living relatives will one’s estate go to the state.
This process, known as intestate succession, might appear orderly – at least on paper – but it isn’t satisfactory to anyone who values their property. One could work a lifetime, only to have one’s bounty descend to someone who couldn’t manage to send a Christmas card. And it leaves out some of life’s great joys and supports including one’s church, one’s friends, and one’s pets.
So, to return to my friend’s question, the state might not inherit your property if you die without a will, but it will get to decide who inherits your property. So, reader, by a roundabout path, we’ve reached one of the great reasons to make a will. To celebrate, even in one’s last act, private property, and the freedom to dispose of it as you wish.
-Mitchell McNaylor
McNaylor Law, LLC
Shelby County, Ala.
205-419-7377
