Probate For Misanthropes

Some people can only persuade themselves to work on their estate plans by telling themselves that death and what comes after it is a party. Old age is the phase of your life where you gleefully cross items off your bucket list. People have euphemistically been calling funerals, “celebrations of life” for decades, but you might be able to fool yourself into believing that the probate of the decedent’s estate is the after party. Of course, this line of thinking seems to rely on the assumption that there is anyone in this world that you like, but if there isn’t, fear not. The party-fication of estate planning is a game misanthropes can play, too. In fact, your estate plan can be a party fit for a Grinch. You can write your will such that none of your relatives get a penny, and you leave all your money to your friends. What’s that you say? You don’t have any friends? Well, you can leave your money to the enemies of your relatives or to charitable causes they can’t stand. You don’t have any money? No problem! You can just die intestate and leave a mess for your surviving relatives to deal with. For help envisioning how your estate plan will play out after you are gone, contact an Orlando estate planning lawyer.

How Does Probate Work When the Decedent Has No One?

In a perfect world, everyone would write a will, and the will would indicate who should serve as personal representative of the estate. Not everyone does, though, which is why Florida has laws about intestate succession. The decedent’s relatives still get to inherit the estate according to the laws of intestate succession once the estate has gone through probate and settled.

In every probate case, the court appoints a personal representative. If there is a will that lists a personal representative, then this part is easy. If the decedent died intestate, the court first invites the decedent’s surviving spouse to serve as personal representative. If the decedent does not have a surviving spouse, then the probate court invites other family members. Friends of the decedent may also volunteer to act as personal representative of the estate. If the decedent has no relatives or friends living in Florida, the probate court will appoint a professional personal representative, such as a probate lawyer or an accountant. Payment for the professional personal representative’s services will come from the estate.

Even if the personal representative is a professional who never met the decedent while he or she was alive, the personal representative’s task still involves looking for heirs. The personal representative will do his or her due diligence to locate distant relatives of the decedent living in Florida or elsewhere.

Contact Gierach and Gierach About Estate Planning for People Who Can’t Stand Anyone Probate

An estate planning lawyer can help you plan for a desolate but painless probate.  Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

floridabar.org/public/consumer/pamphlet026/#:~:text=If%20the%20decedent%20did%20not,serve%20as%20a%20personal%20representative.