Hello, I’m Dong Ho Song of Song Law Firm. Today, we’re going to talk about intestate succession laws in New York and New Jersey, which apply when a deceased person dies without making a will. While a will is universally considered a necessary document for people of all ages, many people do not leave a will. In the Bergen County Court in New Jersey, where many Korean Americans live, it is estimated that about 33% of inheritance cases are intestate, which applies when there is no will.
When a deceased person dies without leaving a will, the legal term is intestate. It is generally understood that in the absence of a will, the deceased’s widow is entitled to the entire estate. However, this may not be the case depending on the intestate succession laws of each state that apply at the time of the decedent’s death. In particular, unlike the Uniform Commercial Code, which is relatively uniform, the Uniform Probate Code, which was proposed to harmonize and equalize state inheritance laws, has not been adopted by many states, so there are differences in who and how much property is distributed in intestate succession.
In our experience with intestate law cases, we have seen differences in distribution laws even in the very neighboring states of New York and New Jersey. Let me give you a couple of examples to help you understand.
First, let’s look at a case where the deceased, John Smith, had no offspring, but his widow, Sarah Smith, and her parents. If New York law were to apply, the widow would receive the entirety of the deceased’s intestate estate. However, in New Jersey, the widow and her parents would split it. First, the spouse would receive the first 25% of the intestate estate between $50,000 and $200,000. After that, one-quarter of the remaining estate would go to the parents and three-quarters to the widow.
In another example, what if the decedent had three adult children, Tom, James, and Laura, from a previous marriage? In New York, the widow would receive the first $50,000 and half of the remainder of the estate. The three children would then split the remainder of the estate, one-third each. However, under New Jersey law, the widow would receive the entire intestate estate. Tom, James, and Laura would have no rights because they have no “intestate share” under New Jersey law.
What if the decedent and the widow had no offspring, but the decedent had a child, Paul, from a previous marriage? First, in New York State, not much changes: the widow receives the same inheritance as before. Instead, the entirety of the remaining intestate estate goes to the child from the previous marriage. Conversely, in New Jersey, a widow’s inheritance is significantly different. As opposed to receiving the entirety earlier, the widow in this case would receive only the first 25% of the intestate estate within the $50,000 to $200,000 limit and half of the remaining amount. And the difference would all go to Paul, the child from the previous marriage.
Because of these differences between New York and New Jersey intestate succession laws, we are often asked by clients which state’s law their case falls under. This is often the case when the decedent owned real estate and other property in multiple states, or when the decedent’s place of employment, place of death, or the residence of a relative who may receive an intestate inheritance is in another state. In these cases, the law of the state of the decedent’s domicile (“place of residence”) generally applies.
Intestate succession laws apply not only when a decedent leaves no will, but also when a will is invalidated in whole or in part, or when the distribution of property in a will is incomplete.
So, what happens if a decedent leaves no will, and there are no relatives left to whom the estate is to be distributed under intestate succession law, who gets the property? This is a very rare situation, but in such cases, the decedent’s intestate estate legally goes to the state.
If you have any questions about intestate succession law, please feel free to contact us at mail@songlawfirm.com. We’ll include them in our next column.