Q: Would an estate exist if there wasn’t a will?
My dad was killed at his job and we won the wrongful death case(meaning my mom sister and myself) rather the total be spilt between the 3 of us. My mom sat back an estate fund after that she split it 3 ways. My dad had no bills house paid for everything in his name was paid in full and clear. So my question did my mom have the right to even open an estate account with funds from the wrongful death lawsuit?
He was struck and killed by a 18 wheeler at his job that was the wrong death case I’m speaking of. We sued the company. But the funds wasn’t split in 3 my mom sat aside a estate type fund then the rest that was left split it into 3s
A: I’m not sure I understand the question, but if he was killed at work, workers’ comp benefits were paid as was required by law; it doesn’t sound like a case to be “won” necessarily (comp is “no fault) but just paid as the Act says to. Whether he had bills or debt isn’t relevant.
A: Whenever someone does and at person owns real property, an estate must be opened in most cases. There can be a couple of exceptions. Wrongful death proceeds generally are payable to the heirs with a small sum of the money payable to the estate to cover final expenses of the deceased person. If you believe the money was not divided properly between the heirs and the estate, you should speak with a lawyer specializing in probate work.
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