Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Indiana

Re: What happens to and estate without a will

Your first question regarding,"what happens to the estate?", depends on what state he lives in and how assets are titled. For instance, if the house your one uncle owns is jointly titled with rights of survivorship with another individual, then that other individual would inherit the house, and it would not be part of the probate estate. If that is the case, then there may not be enough other assets to even open an estate with the court, as some states, (such as Indiana) provide for the transfer of assets by affidavit if a person's estate is small enough (again, in Indiana, it is $25,000).

If the house is not jointly titled, then the house and any other non jointly owned asset would be part of your uncle's estate and they would be divided by that state's law on intestate succession. Intestate succession simply means that state law will provide for the distribution of a deceased person's estate where he/she has not provided for such distribution by will, trust or jointly titled property.

In any case, I would encourage your uncle to visit an attorney and have his will prepared. This is especially so if he wants the other uncle to be able to live in the house after he he dies. As it stands now, who knows what will happen.