Hi folks,
Lost my mom recently and as the oldest of her kids, find it one of my projects to make sure here estate is handled appropriately since there's no will.
Mom's known for a while that her health was going down hill and that she wasn't going to live forever so she'd gradually eliminated a lot of things. Thus there's no real estate, nothing significant in the bank account (< $500), no vehicles, no credit cards. Basically down to personal effects and household furnishings (which I think my siblings and I can divide easily enough). Effectively mom had reached a point of living on her SS & retirement checks ... simple, quiet lifestyle with no frills.
The only possible wrinkle to this (and I spent the afternoon Wed trying to find paperwork in the probate office to bear this out) is that family lore indicates that mom inherited a number of cemetery plots from her mom... circa 1950 at age 4... but the cemetery office still shows them in her mom's name (never mind her mom's been in one since 1950) and probate office has no will for my grandmother to show who (out of grandmother's 3 children) gets/got them.
My question, is there any requirement/legal reason to actually file paperwork with probate office for my mom's estate ... and do the cemetery plots affect that decision?
I realize that legal advice on this (or any other) website is worth about what I'm paying for it and appreciate your time.
Thanks,
Randy
Lost my mom recently and as the oldest of her kids, find it one of my projects to make sure here estate is handled appropriately since there's no will.
Mom's known for a while that her health was going down hill and that she wasn't going to live forever so she'd gradually eliminated a lot of things. Thus there's no real estate, nothing significant in the bank account (< $500), no vehicles, no credit cards. Basically down to personal effects and household furnishings (which I think my siblings and I can divide easily enough). Effectively mom had reached a point of living on her SS & retirement checks ... simple, quiet lifestyle with no frills.
The only possible wrinkle to this (and I spent the afternoon Wed trying to find paperwork in the probate office to bear this out) is that family lore indicates that mom inherited a number of cemetery plots from her mom... circa 1950 at age 4... but the cemetery office still shows them in her mom's name (never mind her mom's been in one since 1950) and probate office has no will for my grandmother to show who (out of grandmother's 3 children) gets/got them.
My question, is there any requirement/legal reason to actually file paperwork with probate office for my mom's estate ... and do the cemetery plots affect that decision?
I realize that legal advice on this (or any other) website is worth about what I'm paying for it and appreciate your time.
Thanks,
Randy