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Estate Value
The
intestate estate basically
includes all individually owned personal belongings and real estate, as well as
any cash held in an individually titled deposit account.
The estate also includes the equity
of any individually owned property which is encumbered by a loan. For instance, a $250,000 house with
a $100,000 mortgage will provide $150,000 to the
decedent's estate.
It is
important to note that the intestate distribution of real estate is governed by
the state of its physical location, not the owner's state of residence.
For instance, Frank is a New York resident who has a $500,000 intestate estate,
of which $150,000 is a vacation home located in Florida. Frank will
include $350,000 in the
New York Intestacy Calculator™ and $150,000 in the
Florida Intestacy Calculator™ to determine how his property will be divided.
Jointly owned property may
also belong to
the estate, but this depends upon how title to the property is held by the owners.
For instance, property owned with the "right of survivorship" is not a
part of the estate, but automatically
passes to the surviving owners upon the death of any one of them.
The
estate will not include the value of any
community property, as this is normally
distributed in a manner that differs from the remainder of the estate.
Community property distribution is included with the individual
Intestacy Calculators™ for
those states that distribute community property between the spouse and
others in a manner that differs
from the distribution of individually owned property.
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