How is property divided if no Will and survived by children of marriage and another son?
Full Question:
My father passed away last week due to liver cirrhosis. My mom had died 6 years ago due to multiple organ failures. The only surviving members of my family are my elder brother and myself. My father also had a daughter from a relationship before he married my mother. He had subsequently acknowledged her paternity. He hasn’t left any will and has a substantial amount of property in his name. How will it be divided among the surviving descendants in Arizona?
12/14/2016 |
Category: Wills and Es... » Intestacy |
State: Arizona |
#28079
Answer:
A.R.S. § 14-2103 governs the instances where the decedent does not have a surviving spouse. It reads:
“Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the decedent's surviving spouse under section 14-2102 or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse passes in the following order to the following persons who survive the decedent:
1. To the decedent's descendants by representation.
2. If there is no surviving descendant, to the decedent's parents equally if both survive or to the surviving parent.
3. If there is no surviving descendant or parent, to the descendants of the decedent's parents or either of them by representation.
4. If there is no surviving descendant, parent or descendant of a parent, but the decedent is survived by one or more grandparents or descendants of grandparents, half of the estate passes to the decedent's paternal grandparents equally if both survive or to the surviving paternal grandparent or the descendants of the decedent's paternal grandparents or either of them if both are deceased with the descendants taking by representation. The other half passes to the decedent's maternal relatives in the same manner. If there is no surviving grandparent or descendant of a grandparent on either the paternal or the maternal side, the entire estate passes to the decedent's relatives on the other side in the same manner as the half.”
In the case at hand, per the rule enumerated in A.R.S. § 14-2103, the property shall be divided among all three issues of the decedent per stripes.