What To Do When Your Parent Dies Without A Trust

Take A Breath 

When your parent passes away, it is emotional. Some people are paralyzed by grief, others jump to action. There is no right way to process emotions. There are a few things that you need to do pretty quickly after they pass and other things that can be handled in a month or more. 

Within a Few Days After They Pass

When someone passes away, their body needs to be disposed of through cremation or embalming. You will need to work with a crematorium or funeral home to dispose of the physical body. You may also plan a service, viewing hours, a celebration of life, or other way to formally say goodbye to your parent. You may also write and publish an obituary in a newspaper, on a funeral home’s website, or on social media. This is typically handled within a week or two of the person's passing. 

When you work with the crematorium or funeral home, they will issue death certificates. You will want to order multiple copies, as you will need them to process any assets they left behind. You can order more later, but it is easier to order everything you need at once. 

Once you have handled this, you will want to collect the deceased’s mail. While this may sound silly, it can be vitally important later. You do not need to immediately contact a probate attorney unless there is urgency (e.g., real estate is in foreclosure proceedings); it can typically wait a month or three. 

With A Few Weeks or Months After They Pass

Once you have had a chance to process the loss, you can start gathering information about their assets and any estate plan they may have had. Assets that can make up an estate include bank accounts, investment accounts, life insurance, real estate, motor vehicles, jewelry, precious metals, and more. The more information you can gather about this information, the easier it will be to manage. Having collected the mail for the last few weeks or months means you should have received information about these assets. Also, look to see if there is a will! 

If any asset has a beneficiary on it (typical for retirement and life insurance) you will want to contact the company, see if you are a beneficiary, and if so, fill out the necessary paperwork to claim the inheritance. Any asset with a living beneficiary should pass outside the probate process.

Any asset that is jointly owned with rights of survivorship will pass immediately to the other joint owner. Most bank accounts operate this way. Real estate can operate as a joint owner with rights of survivorship, which automatically makes it the surviving person’s asset. If real estate is deeded as tenants in common or without survivorship rights, then it may need to pass through probate. 

Any other asset that does not have a beneficiary or wasn’t jointly owned will likely need to go through probate. Probate is a process where the Court oversees the distribution of assets. If you found a will, the Court can admit it (if it meets certain requirements) and distribute it according to the will.  

Once you get to the point where you know what assets exist that need to go through probate, you can decide whether an attorney is necessary. Many courts have small-estate resource guides, like this one in Franklin County. For estates that are under $35,000 for an individual (or $100,000 for a married person), there are expedited processes to handle the estate. You may be able to handle it yourself using the court’s resources. However, anything over $100,000 typically requires an attorney because of the many forms, steps, and accounts that are required. 

Several Months to A Year

File a final tax return. Even though your parent is a spirit in the sky doesn’t relieve them (i.e. their estate) from filing one last tax return with the IRS. The estate is responsible for paying any taxes due and will receive any refunds. The probate estate may need to stay open for you to handle the taxes due or received.