Dying Intestate - Case Study Example

The Case: Walter and Jessica Death Situation Scholars of law refer to a situation where a person dies without a will as dying inte The situation results in the occurrence of intestacy because neither Walter nor Jessica will leave a will. Walter and Jessica have their wills, which they have never update after marriage. Definitely, the wills do not reflect their current position (married) and leaves out children from the transfer of property. Anything agreement they have remains verbal. Intestacy also results in an invalid will because what they have does not factor in property acquired once in marriage. By the time Walter and Jessica drafted their wills, they were in marriage. It means that the will does not capture ant developments after marriage therefore, invalid. Way, dying intestate either by both or by one of the two parents leaves results in a myriad of problems for whoever remains alive. Immediate problems arising from death without a will are two. Lack of appointed Executrix or Executor is the first problem because all their agreements are verbal. In fact, Water’s mother and Mathew have given formal indications of taking care of Wes and Warren in case of sudden death of Walter and Jessica. This case refers to a situation where there is no specific person assigned to take charge of the estate and other property. The second problem is the absence of a formal written record regarding what Walter and Jessica would like done with their estate. Other insurance schemes are specific on the beneficiaries. Walter and Jessica ought to know that the Wills and Succession Act has adequate measures to deal with the first immediate problem. The Act provides that an Administrator handle the collection and distribution of property. Interested people submit applications to the court. The court then issues an order of appointment. This causes delays at the initial stages. In dealing with second case, the Act lays down the procedure followed by relatives with permission to inherit property. The whole estate goes to the survivor closely related to the deceased. Therefore, if Walter dies, then Jessica takes full custody of property and if Jessica passes on, Walter does the same. The children Warren and Wes are under age hence, Walter’s mother would take full custody on behalf of children awaiting their maturity if both parents pass on. A will designates a guardian for minors. However, both Mathew and Walter’s mom agreed verbally to take care of Wes and Warren. The case is not official. Intestacy stipulates the appointment of a guardian by a court of law. The case will lead to the delays and generate disputes over guardianship say between Walter’s mom and Mathew. Transferring ownership under an intestate circumstance could result in inadequate provision. The case may leave other beneficiaries poorly allocated. The law for instance stipulates that when Walter dies leaving Jessica with the two children, Warren and Wes, she gets sixty-five thousand dollars of the estate. Other beneficiaries to Jessica are a third of the balance of the estate and a life interest under the matrimonial home. The prevailing circumstances mean that Jessica will be disadvantaged. Leaving a will to Jessica with apportioned property helps Jessica avoid incurring unnecessary taxes. Intestacy allocates a bigger portion of property to children. The action invites an increased tax liability to the property. Actions by Walter and Jessica in investing in Wes and Warren must remain safeguarded (United States 1999). An option would be drafting a will and deferring transfer of property to children until they mature. In case Walter and Jessica die intestate, the law clarifies that Warren and Wes will have to wait until they are nineteen to acquire ownership. The biggest problem occurs with multiple deaths. Schemes of distribution under intestate result in inequitable distribution of property. However, reprieve emanates from the fact that the two have children. The situation becomes complicated when spouses die without children. Income The biggest question surrounds the amount of money that a family can spend on children including education. Knowing how much Walter and Jessica can spend on children helps in answering several questions (Gaiman, & McKean 2008). Apart from planning for future costs, the couple can prepare for family emergencies such as deaths and it helps in evaluating support requirements in acse of divorce. Furtehrmore, it helps in determining the adequate life insurance to purchase that offers support if parents pass on later. A family that runs accurate spending costs is in a position to approximate costs of raising children. Although many families do not maintain records, they have the need the amount of money spend on children legally. Walter and Jessica need to know that several factors apply in determining the costs for raising children. The number of children impact on the total amount. This family has two; Wes and Warren. They can afford sharing soem things including transportation tp-and from school as well as housing. Immediate problems arising from death without a will are two. Lack of appointed Executrix or Executor is the first problem because all their agreements are verbal.Other items remain exclusive to every child and come with independent costs. Among others helath care is independent and the two children cannot share. The other factor that determines the amount of money spenmd on children is the income of parents, which plays a criucial part in infleucning choices made by the sanme parents. Transferring ownership under an intestate circumstance could result in inadequate provision (Kasunmu 2006). The case may leave other beneficiaries poorly allocated. The law for instance stipulates that when Walter dies leaving Jessica with the two children, Warren and Wes, she gets sixty-five thousand dollars of the estateComparatively, a family with a higher income spends more money on children compared to a family with a lower income. Similarly, a family living in an urban set-up spends more on children compared to the one in rural areas. On the contrary, health care and transportation costs are higher in rural areas compared to urban centres. Walter and Jessica live in lOndon, Ontario. It is an ueban setting and estaimations must base on this fact. Table 1. Monthly Housing Costs by Family Type and Income Level Age of children Two-parent One-parent Lower Middle Upper Lower Upper 0-2 $248 $334 $532 $222 $478 3-5 244 332 528 253 508 6-8 236 323 520 268 523 9-11 213 300 498 258 513 12-14 238 325 522 258 513 15-17 192 279 476 273 529 (Lino 2008) Walter and Jessica will know their level iof gross income because they have a a combined gross income of $ 77, 100. In this case, the fall in the upper income category. Similarly, while making caklculations and they find their combined gross income to slot below $ 77, 100 but above $ 45, 800, then they will fall in the middle income layer. However, if they have a combined gross income below $ 45, 800, then they use the lower income division. The gross income is on monthlybasis (Webber 2008). The table above has a sample that Walter and Jessica can pick their category. The table specifically applies to a two-parent family such as that of Walter and Jessica. If the family considers itself to fall in the middle income category, then Wes, aged five will consume $ 332 every month. Warren will also consume the same amount of money because the two children fall in the same category. Depending on where the family considers itself to be, they can follow the same procedure to estimate their total spending. The other column for one parent is important if the family looses one parent. Shelter is one of the costs of housing. Incldued in this category is property taxes, interest on mortgage, repairs and maintanencne, rent, as well as insurance costs (United States 2004). Under utilities, scholars outline telephone bills, electricity, gas, water, and fuel. Inclduded in thehousing costs is equipment and furniture covering floor coverings, furniture, small and major appliances. Walter and Jessica are homeowners and plan to buy more and shift in the next ten years. They will exclude principle payments for mortage. The law considers such payments within the context of Consumer Expennditure Survey therefore, savings. The table above shows the costs of housing for children and not the entire family (Derting 2013). To get the cost per child, experts divide the total cost with the number of children (two). The family will use the Adjustment Factors Table for preciseestimates. Food Costs Table 2. Monthly Food Costs by Family Type and Income Level Age of children Two-parent One-parent Lower Middle Upper Lower Upper 0-2 $89 $107 $141 $98 $152 3-5 99 123 159 103 161 6-8 128 157 193 131 193 9-11 153 184 223 152 233 12-14 161 186 235 152 228 15-17 173 207 248 165 241 (Chase, Arnold, Schauben & Shardlow 2005) Nonalcoholic beverages together with food fill the category of food costs. Most them come from convenience, grocery, as well as speciality stores such as eating at fats food joints, food stamps, and expenditure on school meals for children. Costs of Transport Incldued in the transportation costs are charges on vehicle fianance, buying of used and new vehicles, repairs and maintainance, motor oil and gasoline, public transportation, and insurance (Westbrook 2011). Monthly Transportation Costs by Family Type and Income Level Age of children Two-parent One-parent Lower Middle Upper Lower Upper 0-2 $78 $116 $163 $73 $222 3-5 75 113 159 63 213 6-8 88 126 172 74 223 9-11 95 133 179 53 203 12-14 108 145 192 62 211 15-17 144 183 232 97 228 (Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion 2013) Costs fluctuate based on the number of children (two) between Walter and Jessica. Other factors are means used by children to go school (whether they drive or use other means), total number of schools children attend, as well as activities of children that require transportation. Just like other costs, the table only refers to costs to children and not the entire family. References Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion , (2013). Cost of raising a child calculator. Washington, D.C.: Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Chase, R., Arnold, J., Schauben, L., & Shardlow, B. (2005). Child care use in Minnesota 2004 statewide household child care survey. St. Paul, MN: Wilder Foundation. Derting, K. (2013). Dead silence. Gaiman, N., & McKean, D. (2008). The graveyard book. New York: HarperCollins Pub. Kasunmu, B. (2006). Alienation of family property. Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press. Lino, M. (2008). Expenditures on children by families, 2007 annual report . Washington, D.C.: Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. United States. (1999). Transfer of Lowe Family property in Wyoming: Report (to accompany S. 361) (including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office). Washington, D.C: U.S. G.P.O. United States. (2004). The Big Horn County School District Land Transfer Act of 1994: Report (to accompany H.R. 2614). Washington, D.C.?: U.S. G.P.O.. Webber, G. J. (2008). Property and possession in Canadian law. S.l: s.n. Westbrook, R. (2011). Property and the family in biblical law. Sheffield, Eng: JSOT Press. Read More