Even though it isn’t exactly a common situation, there may come a time where transferring inheritance, or transferring inheritance rights, to someone else might be in your best interests. The question of why you might want to transfer inheritance, and how you can do it, is something your attorney will explain to you in more detail. Until then, however, there are some basic issues about transferring inheritance in North Carolina with which you should be familiar.
Transferring Inheritance to Heir Searcher Companies
In some situations people stand to receive an inheritance and don’t realize it. For example, take a situation where someone dies in North Carolina without leaving behind a spouse, children, or any surviving siblings. In such situations it is not uncommon for there to be no identifiable living relatives at the time of that person’s death. Further, if that person died without an estate plan, that means there is no one readily identifiable as the living heir.
In these situations it is not uncommon for heir search firms or companies to get involved to find the rightful inheritors of the deceased person’s property. When these companies find the rightful heirs, they heirs typically assign a portion of the inheritance that they would receive to the firm in compensation for their efforts.
Transferring Inheritance to Maintain Decedent Intent
In other situations it’s common for people to transfer inheritance rights because they want to ensure that the decedent’s intent is honored. For example, take a situation in which a father dies leaving behind three children. Though the father always intended to leave a portion of his estate to his siblings as well as his children, he never got around to making an estate plan that formally recognized his wishes. So, when he dies, his property will be distributed to each of his three children in equal portions, while none of it will go to any of his surviving siblings. (This is because state laws predetermine how inheritances transfer when the owner dies without leaving behind an inheritance plan.)
In this type of situation the children can voluntarily choose to transfer a portion of their inheritance rights to others, including the siblings of the deceased father that the deceased father would have wanted to receive inheritance. Though the children are not legally obligated to take this step, they can do so if they wish to preserve their father’s wishes and see that his siblings receive the inheritance he would’ve wanted them to receive.
Of course, there are additional situations in which transferring inheritance rights might be desirable or beneficial. If you ever have a question about what you need to do to transfer rights, what effect that transfer might have on you, and why it might be beneficial for you to take this step, you should contact The Law Offices of Cheryl David for more information.
