Dying Without Named Beneficiaries

You’ve probably put off thinking about what happens to your assets after you’re gone. Most people do, but when you die without naming beneficiaries, Tennessee law makes those decisions for you. This process is called intestate succession. It follows a rigid formula that probably won’t match what you actually wanted. At Carpenter & Lewis PLLC we help you understand how it works.

How Tennessee’s Intestate Succession Laws Work

When there’s no will, and you haven’t named beneficiaries on your accounts, the state follows Tennessee’s intestate succession statutes to distribute everything you own. A court-appointed administrator handles your estate. Your assets go to your closest living relatives in a specific order.

Who gets what? That depends entirely on your family situation. If you’re married and all your kids are from that marriage, your spouse typically inherits everything. Sounds simple enough. But throw in children from a previous relationship, and things get messy fast. Your current spouse might only receive a portion, with the rest split among all your children, regardless of which relationship they came from.

Who Inherits When There’s No Will

Tennessee has a clear pecking order for who inherits your stuff:

• Your spouse and children are first in line
• No spouse or kids? Your parents inherit
• Still nobody? Your siblings get everything
• Only distant relatives remain? They’re next

This system doesn’t care about your actual relationships. That close friend who checked on you every day won’t receive anything. Your estranged sibling you haven’t spoken to in twenty years? They might get it all if no one else qualifies.

The Probate Process Without Beneficiaries

Assets without named beneficiaries can’t just transfer to your family. They’ve got to go through probate court. This is a public process, by the way. It can drag on for months or stretch into years.

The court oversees everything. Paying debts. Settling claims. Eventually distributing what’s left. Your family will need an attorney. They’ll pay court fees. And they’ll wait while the legal system grinds through the paperwork during what’s already one of the hardest times of their lives. Every dollar spent on this process is a dollar that doesn’t go to your heirs.

Retirement Accounts And Life Insurance

Here’s something many people don’t realize. Financial accounts with beneficiary designations skip probate completely. But you’ve got to actually name those beneficiaries. Leave that blank, and these accounts dump right into your estate, subject to those intestate succession rules we talked about.

Your 401(k) could end up with someone you never intended to help. That life insurance policy you bought to take care of specific people? It might get distributed based on state law instead of your wishes. Banks and investment companies will freeze these funds until a court tells them who should get the money.

Real Estate Complications

A Maryville estate planning lawyer can tell you that property ownership without planning gets particularly ugly. If you own your home jointly with someone, they’ll usually inherit your share automatically through survivorship rights. But sole ownership with no will? That property becomes part of your intestate estate.

Multiple heirs can end up owning fractional interests in your house. Nobody agrees on whether to sell or keep it. Someone files a partition action to force a sale through the courts. Legal fees pile up. Family relationships strain under the pressure.

Why Professional Guidance Matters

Working with a Maryville estate planning lawyer prevents all of this. You don’t need a complicated strategy. Just basic steps like drafting a will, updating beneficiary designations, and maybe setting up a trust or two. These simple actions put you in control.

We’ve helped hundreds of Tennessee families create plans that actually work. Plans that protect what matters to them. Plans that make things easier instead of harder for the people they love. Don’t let the state make these decisions for you.

Naming beneficiaries on your accounts takes maybe ten minutes. Writing a will takes a few hours. But the difference it makes for your family is enormous. A comprehensive estate plan gives you something you can’t put a price on: peace of mind. You’ll know your wishes will actually be honored. Contact our team today to talk through your specific situation and create a plan that reflects what you actually want. Your family will thank you for handling this now instead of leaving them to sort it out later.