If Your Parent Dies Without a Will in Brooklyn

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• No will means New York law decides who inherits. When a parent dies without a valid will in Brooklyn, the state determines how property in the intestate estate is distributed.
• Surrogate’s Court may appoint someone to administer the estate. A qualified person can receive Letters of Administration authorizing them to handle the estate.
• Other relatives may inherit when there is no spouse or child. Depending on the family tree, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, and more distant relatives may have inheritance rights.

When a parent dies, family members are sometimes faced with difficult tasks, and finding the parent’s will can be one of them. But what happens when there is no will? Suddenly, the family is faced with questions about the parent’s assets, including what happens with the family home, bank accounts, personal belongings, and who has the authority to handle the estate, which can make an already painful time harder.

If the parent dies without a will in Brooklyn, it means they die “intestate.” If any person dies without any valid record of their final wishes, the New York court will make those decisions on their behalf. Our knowledgeable Brooklyn estate planning attorneys can help families when their loved one dies without a will. 

Who Handles an Intestate Estate?

For a resident whose Brooklyn parent dies intestate, an administration proceeding may be filed in King County Surrogate’s Court. Through this process, the court can issue Letters of Administration giving a qualified person legal authority to collect and distribute estate property. That distinction matters. Without a will, a child cannot simply decide how a parent’s estate should be divided based on what seems fair or what family members remember the parent saying.

If an eligible family member wants to be the estate administrator, they must generally petition the Surrogate’s Court for Letters of Administration to collect and manage the estate assets.

Responsibilities of the Administrator

The person appointed to handle the estate must identify all legal heirs and every person who might have inheritance rights. Depending on the family, that may mean locating estranged children, descendants of a child who died earlier, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, or more distant relatives.

Additionally, the administrator must deal with the estate before any of the beneficiaries receive their shares. That can involve locating assets, securing property, addressing appropriate debts and expenses, and completing court filings.

How an Intestate Estate Is Distributed

Because the deceased person died intestate, and their property can’t be distributed according to their written instructions, certain estate property passes to relatives according to New York’s intestate succession law.

Relatives do not get to decide among themselves who receives assets. The court controls distribution of the intestate estate. If, for example, a parent made verbal promises that a special necklace “goes to my oldest daughter” and “my house goes to my son,” these statements don’t function as a will or override New York’s intestacy rules.

Some people the parent cared about may receive nothing under the intestacy law. An unmarried partner, stepchild who was never legally adopted, close friend, or charity generally does not inherit merely because the parent wanted to provide for them. Without a will, New York’s statutory inheritance rules control the intestate estate.

New York law establishes an order for determining who receives an intestate estate. After applicable debts, administration expenses, and reasonable funeral expenses are addressed, the estate is generally distributed using the following criteria:

• Spouse but no children. The surviving spouse receives the entire intestate estate.
• Children but no spouse. The children receive the estate. When applicable, descendants of a child who died before the parent may inherit that child’s share by representation.
• Spouse and children. The spouse receives the first $50,000 plus one-half of the remaining estate. The decedent’s children or other qualifying descendants receive the balance by representation.
• Parents but no spouse or children. The surviving parent or parents receive the estate.
• Siblings or their descendants, with no spouse, children, or parents. The estate passes to the decedent’s parents’ descendants by representation. Depending on the family tree, that can include siblings and descendants of deceased siblings.

If none of these family members survive, there are rules for more distant relatives, including grandparents and certain descendants of grandparents. It’s important to note that it won’t matter if you’ve spent your entire life estranged from a parent or sibling—the court will have its hands tied, and the judge will have no choice but to follow the rules of intestacy.