What Happens If I Die Without a Will in Florida?

David: [00:00:00] So, Jill, one of the things people ask us often is, why do I need estate planning? What happens if I die without a will? Who gets my property then?
Jill: Well, not who you wanted to. That’s for sure. I always like to tell people that you do want to do your estate plan because I like to know who’s going to get my stuff when I’m no longer around and I like to make sure it’s the people who I want.
David: Well, I like to tell people there’s no such thing as no estate plan. If you don’t do it, the government is already reading your estate plan for you and it is already decided for you who gets your assets.
Jill: Actually, the And it basically goes down and then up. So it looks to your children. Well, it depends. I didn’t even get to the married part yet, obviously your spouse and you know, there’s a lot of provisions there.
Then it goes down to your children. If you don’t have children, then it goes up to your parents. Then it goes out to sisters and brothers and it goes out to cousins. And guess what? If you think that you don’t have any [00:01:00] relatives, Trust me, there are air search firms out there and they will find them for you.
So they make sure whoever is probating your state that somebody is getting that money.
David: So if you don’t want it to go to some fourth cousin who you don’t like, or some relative, let’s take Then they’re actually called laughing heirs because they’re called up. Hey, guess what? This person who hasn’t spoken to you in 30 years died and you’re getting all their money.
It’s really a good idea to get your estate planning done so you can choose who you want and not have the state choose for you.