dying without a will

[Anonymous]

I understand the answer to this will be different state to state, but I am hoping for some general guidance.

My mother is unexpectedly entering hospice. She is long divorced from my father (they are still friendly) and I have one sibling.

My mother has virtually no assets (less than $500 in a bank account). She has a very small pension and social security. My sister and I pay for all of her expenses at an assisted living facility, offset by the small contributions from that pension and SS.

About 6 months ago, my sister (who is not a lawyer, nor am I) prepared a financial power of attorney document that she found online and my mother gave the rights to make financial decisions for her to my sister and me. We also have online access to her bank account, pension, SS and the small amount of bills (I think just a debit card, cell phone and netflix), and we pay those bills from the account and we pay the assisted living place directly.

Now that mom is entering hospice, my sister said we should hire a lawyer to prepare a will for mom and possibly other related documents. This seems an unecessary expense to me since my mom has no assets. We know that our mother wants to be cremated. Again, she has less than $500 in assets- it would cost more than that to get a will.

I’d appreciate thoughts on this from anyone familiar with estate law or who has gone through something similar.

Thank you - and I appreciate kindness in your reponses, this is a very emotional time for me.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like your mother's assets are such they can pass to a named beneficiary after her death. That would negate the need for a will and avoid probate.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. How would my mother set up what she needs to do to make her assets pass to a named beneficiary?

I feel that her assests are so small, and we control her bank account anyway, so couldn’t we just shift the pension and social security payments into our own bank accounts the day they are posted and then basically when my mom passes away, there will be close to zero in her bank account.

To be clear, this is all on the up and up with my mom. My sister and I pay most of her expensive assisted care fees, and my mom wants to give the little amounts she collects each month from SS and pension to my sister and me to help offset those costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. How would my mother set up what she needs to do to make her assets pass to a named beneficiary?

I feel that her assests are so small, and we control her bank account anyway, so couldn’t we just shift the pension and social security payments into our own bank accounts the day they are posted and then basically when my mom passes away, there will be close to zero in her bank account.

To be clear, this is all on the up and up with my mom. My sister and I pay most of her expensive assisted care fees, and my mom wants to give the little amounts she collects each month from SS and pension to my sister and me to help offset those costs.

This information may help:

https://www.findlaw.com/estate/probate/bank-account-beneficiary-rules.html

https://www.protective.com/learn/what-happens-to-my-pension-if-i-die-before-i-retire#:~:text=The%20beneficiary%20is%20the%20person,the%20benefits%20of%20your%20pension.

[Anonymous]

You need to make sure you have two additional documents: HIPAA access (so you can access her medical information and doctors can legally talk to you about her) and Health care power of attorney (so you can make decisions on her behalf).

Also, does she have a living will etc that determines whether she gets a feeding tube or is resusciated (my siblings are all doctors and they insisted we do NOT want that for our parents - say it is painful and just prolongs death).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to make sure you have two additional documents: HIPAA access (so you can access her medical information and doctors can legally talk to you about her) and Health care power of attorney (so you can make decisions on her behalf).

Also, does she have a living will etc that determines whether she gets a feeding tube or is resusciated (my siblings are all doctors and they insisted we do NOT want that for our parents - say it is painful and just prolongs death).

Me again - these may be the "other documents" your sister is referring to.

Ask the lawyer upfront how much the charge is. You should be able to get a flat rate.

[Anonymous]

Her assets will pass through intestate succession. The only thing you need is POA and advance directives. You already know you can get them online.

If you haven’t done so, get bank accounts in joint names before death.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. How would my mother set up what she needs to do to make her assets pass to a named beneficiary?

I feel that her assests are so small, and we control her bank account anyway, so couldn’t we just shift the pension and social security payments into our own bank accounts the day they are posted and then basically when my mom passes away, there will be close to zero in her bank account.

To be clear, this is all on the up and up with my mom. My sister and I pay most of her expensive assisted care fees, and my mom wants to give the little amounts she collects each month from SS and pension to my sister and me to help offset those costs.

If literally her only asset is the bank account you can simply go online name yourselves the beneficiaries on her account, then close it when she's passes. Do not accept pension and SS after she dies. You may want to keep the account open another month or two for bills.

[Anonymous]

I would go online and do a Nolo willmaker will. They are perfectly fine and it will cost you like $60 and you will be much better off being able to wrap up her estate easily.

[Anonymous]

If literally her only asset is the bank account you can simply go online name yourselves the beneficiaries on her account, then close it when she's passes. Do not accept pension and SS after she dies. You may want to keep the account open another month or two for bills.

Could you clarify “Do not accept pension and SS after she dies?” Aren’t you suppose to legally notify them ?

[Anonymous]

Go to freewill.com and make a basic will. It's free and easy.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry to hear about your mother.
My father in law passed with a similar situation. We kept his bank account open for a little bit. We got death certificates and notified social security and his pension asap. There were no other assets to pass down, no other accounts, etc. My husband was on the one account as a joint holder, used it to pay someone to help him clean out the apartment, which he was renting. There was nothing else to do. We did return/not cash the first social security check that had been issued like a day after he died.

[Anonymous]

You should tell Social Security when your mother dies. They will likely already have been notified by the hospital, hospice, Medicare, or funeral home, but it's good to cover your bases. If they still deposit money after she dies, leave it in the account--they will pull it back quickly (you can also tell the bank to send it back to SSA after she dies). Do not move it into another account. Do not close the account until after they pull it back. Note: people are only eligible for Social Security for months where they were alive the whole time. So if your mom dies in July, the payment that arrives in early August (which is actually a payment for July) will need to be pulled back.

I am sorry for your impending loss. To your main question, no I would not get a will. If you are in DC, there is a probate resource center at the DC superior court and they can talk you through anything you'll need to do.

[Anonymous]

sorry immediate PP here.

As for the money. I would actually have her write her social security portion directly to assisted living every month thus reducing your costs rather than you taking the money. If she has no assets at death, then there's nothing creditors can go after. If there's a joint account with money in it, its possible.

[Anonymous]

For the bank account you want to add you and your sister as beneficiaries - it’s called pay in death. This can be done now. The POA only works until your mother dies. This is easy to do. Be prepared that social security payments are made in advance so depending on the says of death they may take back a payment - they do this automatically and without notifying you.