The town has determined that my great grandfather owned a large parcel
of land and is going to take it by eminent domain. Since there is no
will, who are the heirs? My generation or does it include my children
and grandchildren?

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Request for Question Clarification by journalist-ga on 08 Jan 2003 10:35 PST

If you will provide the state, town and county regarding this query,
it will be easier for a Google Answers Researcher to do a more direct
search.

---

Clarification of Question by rgrif-ga on 08 Jan 2003 14:36 PST

This property is in Dukes County MA . The town plans to pay a
reasonable sum.
The on;y heirs are in my generation. the great grandchildren. It has
been determined by the lawyer for the town that we grandchildren are
heirs The question is whether , in the settlement, the money also is
split among our children and grandchildren in addition to our
receiving shares .

Dear rgrif-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.

Should you need to research this further, what you are interested in
is called the “Massachusetts laws of intestate succession”.

According to Massachusetts probate law, (refer; Massachusetts General
Laws; Chapter 191, Sections 1+) concerning intestate succession
(distribution if decedent leaves no will): If children survive the
decedent, but there is no surviving spouse, all of the estate goes to
the children equally or to their children per stirpes.

In lieu of this scenario, these are the following manners of intestate
succession:

“Parent(s), but no spouse or children surviving: All to parents
equally, or to the surviving parent.”

“No spouse, children, or parent(s) surviving: All to brothers and
sisters equally or their children per stirpes; or if none, to the next
of kin.”


Definition of “Per Stirpes”:

A system of inheritance under which children inherit the share that
their parent would have inherited had the parent survived the
decedent. For example, say X’s will leaves half of his estate to each
of his two children, Y and Z. Y has one child, Z has nine children. Z
dies before X. When X dies, Y gets 50% of X’s estate and Z’s children
divide the remaining 50% among themselves nine ways. If Y had also
died before X, then Y's child would get 50% of the estate and Z's
children would split the other 50% of the estate.
FINANCIAL PLANNING TOOL KIT
http://www.finance.cch.com/pops/gl_perstirpes.asp


I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If
you have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga



INFORMATION SOURCES

“Massachusetts Will Statutes”
‘The law of Massachusetts regarding wills.’
http://www.uslaw.com/library/article/nowlmassachusetts.html?area_id=14


FINANCIAL PLANNING TOOL KIT
http://www.finance.cch.com/pops/gl_perstirpes.asp


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Massachusetts laws intestate succession

Massachusetts probate laws

Massachusetts will inheritance law

I appreciated the answer and it gave me good references

When there is no will, then the heirs are naturally assumed to be the
great-grandfather's children.  If any of them are still living, they
may want to consult with a real estate attorney (who has some
experience with eminent domain and probate matters) to get advice
about whether or not they should go through the process now of having
their names legally added to the property title now (whether it would
be necessary or worth doing or not).  Do you know whether or not the
heirs are going to be compensated at all for this property or not?

SINCERELY,
4keith-ga

1-7-2003

I'm sure that any attorney would tell you that YOUR children and
grandchildren would not qualify to receive any money from this
distribution, since they would not officially become YOUR heirs until
you die.  Of course, if YOU wanted to leave them some of this money
from your own estate under your own will, then that is perfectly
allowable.

SINCERELY,
4keith-ga

Contrary to 4keith-ga's suggestion, you should not take the laws of
intestacy for granted. When somebody dies intestate (without a will),
each state will have a mechanism for determining intestate succession.
While typically the heirs at law of a person who dies intestate (with
no living spouse) will be that person's children (if the person had
children), it is always appropriate to check the laws of the
jurisdiction in which the assets are located before jumping to a
conclusion.