By Atty. Sean J. O’Brien
Dautrich & O’Brien Law Offices
The short answer is yes. Many people believe that if you die without a will, everything you own goes to your surviving spouse. Unfortunately, in Pennsylvania, if you die without a will, your estate must follow the intestate succession statutes. The intestate succession statutes control the disposition of your assets. The statutes provide that the share of the surviving spouse (depending on if there are children) can be as little as one-half of the intestate estate.
Dautrich & O’Brien has assisted families that lost a spouse who died without a will. Much of the aggravation, pain and costs of administering the Estate without a will, could have been avoided if the wife and husband had just prepared the appropriate wills. For example, wife and husband, both on their second marriages, live in a house owned by the husband. Husband has children from his first marriage. Husband dies without a will. Wife is left with very few options. She can either leave the house, which then would be sold and the net proceeds divided between the wife and the husband’s children or the wife can buyout the one-half interest in the house from the husband’s children. This could have been avoided if the husband had a will that gives the real estate to his wife if she survives him.
