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Why didn't the Intestacy Calculator™ ask about my "brothers, sisters, step-children, etc."?

If a family member is not asked about, that family member is not entitled to a portion of the intestate estate in that state and/or with the family facts you have provided. 

 


An Intestacy Calculator's™ failure to ask about any particular family member generally results from one of two factors:

 

1)  Those family members are "trumped" by more closely related family members. 

 

Every time you answer a question, the Intestacy Calculator™ evaluates that answer to determine whether it has enough information or if it needs to ask for information.

 

If it has enough family information, it calculates the intestate distribution by interpreting the intestacy laws and automatically shows the summary.  If it doesn't have enough information, it determines which question must be shown to gather the appropriate information.

 

Questions are presented in order of priority according to the unique laws of that state.  For instance, every state will ask about children before asking about grandparents, if at all.

 

In this situation, the person you are expecting to see may be entitled to a portion of the intestate estate with specific circumstances, but not with the circumstances you have provided.

 

For example, if you indicate there are living children you are not typically asked about living siblings, because the intestate laws do not require a decedent's children to share with the decedent's siblings.

 

As another example, most states will not ask about living siblings when you indicate a parent is living, because the laws of those states 'stop' when they find a living parent. 

Other states, such as Illinois and Missouri, will always ask about living siblings no matter how many parents there are, while Texas will only ask about siblings when there is just one parent or no parents.

 

The questions you are asked is entirely dependent upon the interaction of the information you have given up to that point and the laws of that state.

 

2) Those family members are simply not included with that state's intestacy laws.

 

The intestate laws of every single state are different.  This means that, while Maryland may ask about living step-children at a certain point, New York may seem to stop abruptly with an 'escheat' answer.

 

For example, Pennsylvania's last qualified level of relation is "the grandchild of an uncle or aunt," which is a first cousin once-removed.  Any person more distantly related than this will not receive a portion of the decedent's intestate estate, even if the decedent does not have any other living relations.

 

As another example, Delaware asks for "Any living relatives not mentioned above?" before showing the escheat answer, because Delaware's laws also distribute the intestate estate to the "next of kin."  Unlike Pennsylvania, Delaware does not have a last qualified level of relation, but basically tries to find any one before allowing the property to escheat.

 

Every state has different intestacy laws that are entirely independent of every other state's intestacy laws.  Although one state may provide a portion of the intestate estate to a particular family relation, that does not obligate or affect any other state's provision or lack of provision being made to the same family member.

 

If you aren't asked about a specific family member under any circumstances, that family member is not entitled to a portion of the intestate estate under the laws of that state without any regard to the other family circumstances.

 


See Also: Why doesn't the Intestacy Calculator™ always ask about grandchildren, nieces, or cousins? and Why doesn't the Intestacy Calculator™ ask about the family exemption / homestead property? and How do the Intestacy Calculators™ operate?


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