Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in District of Columbia
what constitute a small estate
DC law provides a ''small estate'' procedure for probating a will if the value is under $40K. My mother died and and left everything (by will) to my father. They own substantial property, investments, etc. as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Is the value of those jointly owned assets included in my mother's estate and considered toward the $40K limit? Or would only those assets she owned in her own name be included in the $40K as part of her estate?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: what constitute a small estate
All property that passes through right of survivorship by-passes the estate, thus, that property does not need to be calculated in determining eligibility for a small estate.
Re: what constitute a small estate
The assets which are not subject to probate are
obviously to be excluded from the $40K small estate calculation. These include all assets which were jointly titled with right of survivorship in both of your parents names and which were intended to pass the first deceased parent's share of ownership in these assets directly to the other upon the demise of the former without having going through the probate process. The surviving parent is now the one and only rightful owner of these particular assets and the estate of the deceased parent can now in no way claim any part of their ownership.
Consequently, these particular joint assets must therefore be necessarily excluded from the calculation of the total dollar value for the assets of the estate of the deceased parent.
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