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Data
Collection and Evaluation
Although they may seem to operate
like simple electronic questionnaires that give a
predetermined response to every user click, each one of
these fifty programs actually evaluate the items of user
input on an individual basis at the moment that data is
provided.
In fact, the apparent simplicity of
each
Intestacy Calculator's™ operation is a
demonstration of their efficiency and effectiveness.
While the programs provide immediate
responses to each user selection, the information
collected from the individual user selections is
evaluated along with all existing data collected through
prior user responses.
This combined data is then compared
to the appropriate intestate laws, which allows the
current
Intestacy Calculator™ to determine whether it
has enough information to designate the legal heirs
according to those laws.
With sufficient information, the
program applies the data to the system of those laws,
determines the appropriate heirs and calculates the
correct distribution among them according to the
individual family and financial facts revealed by the
user provided data.
If the program doesn't have enough
data, it uses all existing information to determine what
is the most relevant, absent information that will allow
it to correctly determine the legal heirs and calculate
the appropriate intestate estate distribution by
collecting only the minimum amount of data that is
necessary to meet this purpose.
Example: Texas Intestacy Calculator™
For instance, when a Texas user
indicates there aren't any deceased siblings by
selecting "No" to the "Do you have any deceased
siblings" question, in order to provide the most
appropriate response, the Texas Intestacy Calculator™
must immediately determine whether the user has: 1) a
spouse, 2) two living parents, 3) one living parent, 4)
a living sibling and, if so, 5) any living half-blood
siblings, and, if any one of the preceding, the 6)
community property value, 7) separate property value,
and 8) real estate value.
If,
however, the user data does not indicate at least one of
the preceding, the Texas Intestacy Calculator™
must begin requesting information regarding maternal and
paternal grandparents and, depending upon the user
answers to each of these individual prompts, living and
deceased aunts on each respective side of the family,
and so on.
Similarly, when a user indicates
there is at least one deceased sibling with surviving
issue, the program must evaluate all of the preceding
steps to determine whether the most appropriate response
is to 1) question the number of deceased siblings that
are half-blood relations, 2) question the number of
living nieces and nephews by these deceased siblings, 3)
calculate the appropriate distribution of the intestate
estate, or 4) begin requesting information regarding
maternal and paternal grandparents, and so on.
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Although the evaluation of all of
this information and individual factors is initiated by
the single act of selecting "No" to the "Do you have any
deceased siblings" question, the subsequent and most
appropriate response from the program is immediately
calculated and displayed.
Many of the more interesting
functions are performed at levels beyond the "Spouse and
Child" level of relation.
For instance, Maryland considers the
paternal grandparents of the decedent's father
separately from decedent's father's maternal
grandparents, as well as separate from both the
decedent's mother's paternal grandparents and the
decedent's mother's maternal grandparents, including
separately from all of the issue of each of these four
categories.
Missouri divides the intestate estate
equally among the grandparents and their children, but
by representation among the issue of the grandparents
children. In addition to this method, Missouri
divides the estate among the heirs of multiple
predeceased spouses, which may also include use of the
above method with respect to the grandparents of the
predeceased spouse or spouses.
It is just as interesting that in
addition to calculating the correct distribution among
these different classes, these programs also determine
what information is needed to make the correct
calculation and when it is appropriate to collect that
data.
The immediacy of these program
responses can easily overshadow the complexity of its
evaluations and, perhaps, make them seem rather simple
or rudimentary.
The Per Stirpes Calculator™
As
The Per Stirpes Calculator™ demonstrates, providing
answers with greater detail than "The children or
grandchildren of each of your individually deceased
children will share $5,000" requires each program to
acquire and evaluate much more data than necessary to
demonstrate how the law divides the estate.
Of course, these answers can simply
be plugged into
The Per Stirpes Calculator™ to see how
the $5,000 will be divided among the user's
grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and
great-great-grandchildren; including up to 125 different
levels of family relation.
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Sample Intestacy Problems |
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See just how useful these programs are by using the written laws to determine
the correct intestate distribution based upon basic family scenarios.
The
Sample Intestacy Problems page describes three
simple family scenarios for comparison with four different states.
Each state
description contains a link to written excerpts of the state intestacy laws, a
summary of the intestate distribution according to those circumstances, and a
link to that state's
Intestacy Calculator™
Begin by opening the state intestate laws and independently determining the
appropriate distribution to the listed heirs. The correct answers are
provided below each scenario, but hidden from view until you choose to open
them.
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