Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Minnesota

Re: Who gets the assets when a spouse dies?

Just being a surviving spouse is not a guarantee that all assets go to her. If there was a will it would control, but I will assume there is not one - you wouldn't be asking all this if there had been a will.

First of all, any joint assets belong to the surviving joint tennant. The surviving joint tennant is usually the spouse. This if you are lucky covers the house and maybe the car and maybe the banks accounts and investments. Maybe.

Any account with a payable on death clause is controlled by that clause. If there is a bank account which was set up to be payable on death to someone, that's who it belongs to.

Anything which was in the dead person's name alone with no other provisions - these assets can be a problem. Under Minnesota statutes they go one-third to the spouse and two thirds to the children, or half to the spouse and half to the child if there is only one child. EXCEPT that a surviving spouse has a claim to certain things necessary for living off the top - such a funishings, appliances, an automobile, clothing, household effects, etc. A surviving spouse may also have a claim to some sort of allowance to live on - especially while the estate is being administered.

Meanwhile, all taxes and medical bills of the dead person are to be paid off the top. They have priority. So do attorney fees. The various allowances for a surviving spouse are also a high priority. Then comes all the other creditors. Assuming there is a probate court file, the creditors will have four months to file claims.

Probate is a way to transfer ownership of assets that can't be transferred any other way. These are usually the items that are in the dead person's name alone, and which can't be loaded in the back of a truck and disposed of informally.

The fact that you don't have the answers to the questions you are asking indicates that you need to see a lawyer - or bring your surviving spouse mother to see one.

And for goodness sake go out and have a will done for yourself so this doesn't happen again in the next generation.

Good luck.

This response is for general information purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. You are advised to seek the advice of an attorney of your choice concerning the details of your case.