Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arizona
Arizona laws of intestate succession
My parents who are Arizona residents will soon die, father first, then step-mother. They have been married 30+ years. There is no will. Step-mother has 2 living sisters. Into the marriage with my father, Step-mother brought 5 children from a previous marriage; 2 of the children from the previous marriage died ~20 years ago, 3 remain living. She had one child with my father; then they adopted a child, and then they adopted 2 other children (who were children of step mother's oldest daughter), all living. I was only child my father brought to the marriage. When dad dies first, I assume the entire estate goes to step-mother. Correct? When step mother dies, I believe estate goes to her 'children'. Question relates to any right I and to the 3 adopted children may have to the estate. Am I, and the adopted children, all considered 'children' of the step-mother and entitled to part of the estate when she dies?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Arizona laws of intestate succession
Without getting too specific, under the laws of intestate succession, a person's estate is shared between their surviving spouse, and any children of the person who are not common to the surviving spouse. In other words, if your father passes first, you and his spouse will share the estate (not necesarily equally). Her kids and the "common" (adopted) kids would not inherit because she is still alive. If she passes first, your father would share the estate with her not common kids. You would then inherit directly from your father upon his death.
I hope this makes sense...
Monica Donaldson
(480) 792-9770
Re: Arizona laws of intestate succession
The response from Monica Donaldson is a good summary. I would recommend that you encourage your father and step-mother to go to a lawyer and get some advice and counsel so that they can determine what they want to happen to his/her estate, when each of them passes away. Encourage them to prepare a Will so that family arguments can be avoided, and their wishes can be carried out.
Even more important, each of them should have made a durable health care power of attorney and a durable financial power of attorney, so that a person or persons, that each of them trusts, can take care of them, and carry out their wishes, in the event of incapacity, illness, accident or just old age (when they may be vulnerable to exploitation by strangers or by relatives).
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