If a person dies without an estate plan, their immediate family members become their heirs. Heirs have a statutory right to receive assets from an estate after the personal representative administering the estate has addressed relevant financial obligations, such as probate costs and debts owed by the decedent.
In some cases, people make plans in advance for their property to pass to specific people they choose, known as their beneficiaries. Understanding who can inherit as a beneficiary can be helpful for those establishing or updating their estate plans.
Most parties can legally inherit
Minnesota law broadly defines beneficiaries to include both individuals and businesses. People can choose to leave their assets to their family members and friends. They can also make posthumous donations to charitable causes.
In theory, any person who is still alive and any organization not yet dissolved can inherit from an estate. There are some parties that may not be able to directly inherit because of their legal standing.
Minor children and adults who lack capacity may not be able to directly control inherited property. If a person intends to name minors or those with serious medical challenges as their beneficiaries, then they may opt to establish a trust, which helps preserve those resources and manage their use on behalf of those who do not have the legal right to control their own inheritance.
Keeping an estate plan updated, so that the assets included and the beneficiaries named accurately reflect a person’s circumstances, can help to ensure that testators leave a meaningful legacy when they pass. Those concerned about how to provide for specific beneficiaries or how to allocate their resources may need to sit down to discuss their priorities and concerns with an estate planning attorney, and that’s okay.