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How Property Passes In Your State
Laws vary by state, here are some key points of Kansas and Missouri’s probate law.
| If you are: | Your Property Would Go To: |
|---|---|
| Married, with no children nor descendants of children | All to surviving spouse |
| Married, with children or descendants of children | One-half to surviving spouse, one-half to children, divided equally among them* |
| Single person, widow or widower, with children or descendants of children | All to children, divided equally among them* |
| Single person, widow or widower with no children or descendants | All to parents, divided equally, or to the survivor. If neither parent survives, one-half of property generally passes equally along the bloodline of each parent. If no heir remains on one side, the whole passes along the other side. |
| Single person, widow or widower with no children or descendants of children, with no parents or heirs of either parent | All to decedent’ predeceased spouse’ heirs, but if none, then all passes to the State of Kansas |
If there are no heirs of either parent, the property passes to the State of Kansas.
* Children of a deceased heir take the portion their parent would have received, if living.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS control a surviving spouse’s right in the family residence; a survivng spouse also may be granted a special allowance for support, if there are minor children.
General Rules Of Descent:
All property as to which any decedent dies intestate shall descend and be distributed, subject to payment of claims, as follows:
1. The surviving spouse shall receive:
a.The entire intestate estate if decedent has no surviving issue.
b.The first $20,000 in value of the intestate estate, plus 1/2 the balance of the intestate estate, if decedent has surviving issue, all of whom are also of the surviving spouse.
c. 1/2 the intestate estate if decedent has surviving issue, one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse.
2. The part not distributable to the surviving spouse, or the entire intestate property, if there is no surviving spouse, shall descend and be distributed as follows:
a. To decedent’s children, or their descendants, in equal parts.
b. If there are no children, or their descendants, then to the decedent’s father , mother, brother, sister or their descendants in equal parts.
c.If there are no children, or their descendants, father, mother, brother, or sister, or their descendants, then to decedent’s grandfathers, grandmothers, uncles and aunts or their descendants in equal parts.
d. If there are no children or their descendants, father, mother, brother, sister, or their descendants, grandfather, grandmother, uncles, aunts, nor their descendants, then to great grandfathers, great grandmothers, or their descendants, in equal parts; and so on, in other cases without end, passing to the nearest lineal ancestors and their children, or their descendants, in equal parts; provided, however that collateral relatives, that is, relatives who are neither ancestor nor descendants of the decedent, may not inherit unless they are related to the decedent at least as closely as the ninth degree, the degree of kinship being computed according to the rules of the civil law; that is, by counting upward from the decedent to the nearest common ancestor, and then downward to the relative, the degree of kinship being the sum of these two counts, so that brothers are related in the second degree.
3. If there is no surviving spouse or kindred of the decedent entitled to inherit, the whole shall go to the kindred of the predeceased spouse of the decedent, in like course as if such predeceased spouse had survived the decedent and then died entitled to the property; if there is more than one such predeceased spouse, then in equal shares to the kindred of each predeceased spouse.
4. If no person is entitled to inherit as provided in this section, the property shall pass to the State of Missouri.
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