Q: Brother in law passed away. Who recieves his assets.
My brother in law (age 26) who lived with my wife and i passed away in feb 2018. He had my wife down as benificiary of life insurance at work. But where does the money he had in his bank account go. He had no will and did not list a benificiary on his account. What do we need to do now since we are handling all of his affairs?
A:
Please accept my sincere condolences on the loss of your brother-in-law. Regarding your question, depending on the amount of funds in the bank account, and depending on whether another person has paid for funeral expenses or final medical expenses and would like to be reimbursed up to that amount from the bank account, there are several options for estate administration. Only one option does not require an attorney to file the court petition, and that is called Disposition of Personal Property Without Administration. If you know the balance in the account, and it is less than the funeral expenses or medical expenses paid by a family member, then that family member can ask the clerk of court to assist with filing this document to which receipts for these final expenses are attached. Then the judge signs an order giving the funds in the bank account to the person to be reimbursed.
If there are more funds in the account than there are paid funeral or medical expenses to be reimbursed, then an attorney would need to be retained to open a summary administration (less than $75,000 in estate) or formal administration (more than $75,000 in estate).
Our office provides a free phone consultation and handles estate matters anywhere in the state of Florida. You are welcome to give us a call to discuss this case.
A:
Not enough information to say for sure. Best advice is that you should consult with a probate attorney near the area where your brother was living at this death. The probate attorney once they get enough information will be able to advise you what needs to be done.
Good luck and hope this helps.
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