Mother died, what next?

[Layci]

Jurisdiction

Florida

My mom just died. She was unmarried. We have a medium sized family but my brother and I have been established as next of kin, but my grandparents are acting weird when it comes to talking about what happens to her bank accounts, her home (paid off), and her vehicle.

I was told since the land my moms home is on is in my Grandfathers name, the home that is paid off and in my mother's name, goes to my Grandfather. She also has a paid off vehicle, and bank accounts (not rich, but she would want to leave me and my brother with something). She didn't have life insurance, she didn't have a will.

I was also told when it comes down to who takes possession of the vehicle or home, it's basically whoever gets to the tag agency first (between me and my grandfather, my brother is uninterested in doing any of this), I would like clarification on all of this if someone could help me, because I have never done this before.

 

[mightymoose]

Nothing automatically goes to anyone.
It sounds as if you are unfamiliar with probate. Contact a probate attorney or at least research the process to get an idea of what should be taking place.

 

[army judge]

Please accept my condolences upon the passing of your mother.

Allow yourself a little time to absorb her passing, before you become too embroiled over her assets.

Once you're ready, I suggest you meet with your siblings to decide how you wish to proceed.

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Here is what will happen if the deceased person is survived by a spouse and/or descendants (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.):

Survived by a spouse and descendants, all of whom are descendants of the spouse, and the surviving spouse has no other descendants:

In this case, the surviving spouse will inherit 100% of the deceased person's probate estate.


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The first person in line to inherit is the surviving spouse, if any. A surviving spouse is NOT a long time girlfriend or boyfriend – you need to have a valid marriage to be surviving spouse. The surviving spouse is the first in line to receive an inheritance and largest portion of an intestate estate. If there are no children, then the SURVIVING SPOUSE gets everything.

Next, if there are children, then children of the decedent will inherit after the surviving spouse receives his or her intestate share. Here is where things get a little tricky. If a child of the decedent dies before the decedent dies, then the predeceased child's children (the decedent's grandchildren) will receive that predeceased child's portion of the estate. When I say children, this includes legally adopted children and half-siblings, but NOT unadopted stepchildren of the person that died.

If a deceased person residing in Florida does not have a surviving spouse or children/grandchildren, then you go to the next step. The decedent's parents would inherit next. If the parents are not alive, then you move to siblings.

There can be more on some family trees, but due to the rarity of going past siblings, I'll just stop here.

 

[adjusterjack]

I would like clarification on all of this

Then you are going to have to consult a probate attorney if you want anything from your Mom's estate.

There are just too many things you don't know that can't be taught to you in a few paragraphs by strangers on the internet.

Though if you google Florida Intestate Probate, you might get some idea.

 

[zddoodah]

the land my moms home is on is in my Grandfathers name

Except in the case of a mobile home, I've never heard of a home being titled to one person but the land being titled to another person. What sort of home is it?

I was told. . . .

Told by whom?

I was also told when it comes down to who takes possession of the vehicle or home, it's basically whoever gets to the tag agency first

That's silly.

When an unmarried person with children dies without a will, the deceased's estate (after payment of estate debt) gets divided between her issue (i.e., children, grandchildren, etc.). Parents don't get anything.

I suggest you check with the bank to see if there was a designated pay-on-death beneficiary for your mother's accounts. I also suggest you check with a probate attorney about how to deal with the estate as a whole.