Who Will Receive Your Estate?
For married couples with minor children, most spouses want the surviving spouse to receive their property at death. Their children would then receive their property only if both spouses die. But what if you are a blended family. Should/can all children take equally? Shanti can we add a link here to the Blended Family Page?
Some property is transferred automatically at death to the person with survivorship rights. This property, called non-probate property, includes most life insurance policies and assets transferred by beneficiary designation (such as retirement plans) and property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Even if all property is non-probate property, a couple still needs Wills to transfer the property in case the person with survivorship rights does not survive and to provide for the care of children.
If both parents die and have no Will, state intestacy laws control the distribution. This may sound desirable. However, in the majority of the cases it is not.