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Legal Programs
Intestacy
Calculators™
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These are the first interactive
programs that interpret the laws of intestacy, as they apply to
the unique and varied facts entered by individual users. The
interpretation is used to create a summary that includes the
dollar value of the intestate estate that will be assigned to
different individuals according to their relationship with the
deceased and with each other.
To see how the intestate laws of an
individual state will distribute the intestate property of any
person, simply select the state of interest from the list below,
enter a dollar amount, and begin answering questions until the
distribution summary is automatically presented.
The fact that these Intestacy
Calculators are so simple to use and provide results so quickly
can be compared with the complexity of the laws they are
interpreting to clearly demonstrate their effectiveness and
utility.
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Perhaps the best examples of their
usefulness may be shown by:
1) Using the actual written laws to
determine an intestate distribution (For instance, New York has
one of the more simplified distribution schemes. Look up the
New York statutes online and determine how a New Yorker's
$1,500,000 estate will be divided when his closest living
relations are a maternal grandmother, three paternal aunts and
uncles, and five paternal first cousins by two deceased paternal
aunts.)
2) The difficulty in finding examples
of intestate distribution that tell you more than:
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"If you have a spouse and two
children, your spouse will receive the first $xxx.xx and
each of your children will receive $xxx.xx" |
While these examples may have their
use, they certainly don't apply to everyone and, even when they
may apply, the user is still required to independently perform the
mathematical calculations based upon his or her individual estate
value without any guidance. In contrast, the Intestacy
Calculators show you how much will be given to your family
members and with just a few clicks.
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The Per Stirpes Calculator™
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This program automatically divides an
amount that is to be distributed among the issue of deceased heirs
who are taking by representation, showing how much each respective
person will take.
A per stirpes distribution is
dependent upon the family relation that each living heir has with
the deceased ancestors who are direct lineal ascendants of each
respective living heir, as well as the relation of those living
heirs with one another.
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There are numerous charts and written
explanations available online and offline.
Rather than create another set of
written examples, this program was designed to show the actual
application of a per stirpes distribution
The Per Stirpes Calculator™ determines
the legal division of a dollar amount apportioned to one deceased
heir among up to 155 different levels of relationship to that
initial deceased heir. |
Summary of State
Laws
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One of the most interesting facts
revealed during the creation of the Intestacy Calculators is that
every state in America uses a different set of intestacy laws.
Although there are certain similarities between some individual
states, the actual application of the entire body of law for each
state will always produce a result different from every other
state.
This program allows users to select an
individual point of law to reveal those states that apply that law
in some respect. Simply select a main topic of interest,
which are categorized upon the basis of family relation and
property. Following this selection, further specifications
of how the property may be distributed are shown and, upon
selection, the states that apply that form of distribution with
their individual intestacy laws are shown.
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An alternate program was considered,
which would allow users to select a state by name, rather than by
law. However, selecting any state to see which other states
share its intestacy law concepts did not seem to have much value,
as it would require a further delineation of the exact laws of the
subject state that are actually shared with any of the displayed
states.
For example, selecting "Arkansas" in
this hypothetical program would result in "California, Delaware,
Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky,
Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas,
Virginia, Washington, Wyoming" which is misleading because,
although Arkansas may share similar forms of intestate laws with
California, they may not be the same laws that Arkansas shares
with Delaware. It is also possible that California and
Delaware do not share any laws with each other, despite the fact
that each state has intestate laws similar to those of Arkansas. |
Federal
Estate Tax Calculator
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One of the greatest factors in
determining the amount of federal estate tax that is due for any
intestate estate is the value of that intestate estate that is
transferred to a surviving spouse, if any. All property
transferred to a surviving spouse is deducted from the estate
before calculating the amount of federal estate tax.
Otherwise, every person's federal
estate tax is basically calculated upon the basis of all
property that a person owns or has the right to control at
death, without regard to who actually receives the property.
Although all property not
transferred to a spouse is subject to the tax, there is also a
federal estate tax exemption that may be applied to all other
amounts. The standard federal estate tax exemption is
basically a fixed dollar amount that every person can deduct
from the estate before the amount of federal estate tax is
calculated. Unlike the marital deduction, this exemption
is not based upon family relationship and is provided to every
person. Also unlike the marital deduction, this exemption
is fixed dollar amount.
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The federal estate tax has received
a great deal of attention in recent years, as the applicable
fixed dollar amount of the exemption has been periodically
increasing as part of the anticipated repeal of the
federal estate during 2010.
From now through December 31, 2008
$2,000,000 is exempted from the federal estate tax. In
2009, the exempt amount increases to $3,500,000 and in 2010 the
federal estate tax is repealed.
Although many of the individual
Intestacy Calculators also include federal estate tax
calculations, the Federal Estate Tax Calculator can be used for
those that have not been updated. If you are married,
simply open the Intestacy Calculator for your state to see how
much will be given to your spouse and use that figure with the
Federal Estate Tax Calculator.
The Federal Estate Tax Calculator is
also useful in determining the tax due against the intestate
estate and the portion of the estate that passes outside of
intestacy. Because the estate tax is calculated against
all property that is owned, it also includes property that
passes by operation of law, such as property owned with the
right of survivorship, which is frequently seen with real estate
and joint bank accounts. |
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