A will is a written legal document that a person creates in order to make their wishes known as to how the deceased would like to have their personal assets such as real estate, distributed once they have passed.  In El Paso, TX, it is has become very common for local people to not have a will, therefore, making the post passing process of a loved one, quite a headache. When a will is in place, many headaches can be prevented, as typically specific beneficiaries are identified as to who receives what. Unfortunately, though, even when a will does exist, there are those cases where beneficiaries are not listed.  In those cases, the courts will determine the next course of action.

The main way that a will can have no beneficiaries is if a person had a written will with specific beneficiaries listed but have now passed. This means that there are no living beneficiaries expressly listed in the will. This tends to happen when a will was not updated when the beneficiary passed away.  

In most cases, what happens is the next closest relative would be the beneficiary.  In other words, if Mother was listed as a beneficiary when the will had been written, but she has now passed and the will was never updated, then in this case the mother's children would be the next in line to receive the assets inherited by the deceased mother. 

Another way that a will can have no beneficiaries is that the court finds that the actual will is invalid. This can happen for a number of reasons including fraud, lack of capacity, duress, or undue influence.

It is also possible that the will is not valid because the basic legal requirements of the will were not met. Some of these reasons include the person who executed it is under 18 or that the document is not in writing or is not signed. If any of these reasons happen, the estate will be treated as if there is no will. To prevent this from happening you, Brandon Lettunich specializes in creating a testament or will in El Paso, TX so that you or your loved ones never have to go through these headaches in the event of a passing.