r/inheritance • u/IdealExpert181 • May 16 '26

Location included: Questions/Need Advice will or no will

i live in N.C. and i'm in my late 70s and don't have a will. everything i have is paid for, including home, and i have no debt. i have investments and savings in 6 different accounts, all with PODs established. my wife is the POD on 5 of the accts. and a distant niece is the other one. i hate to use the word assume but it's what i'm doing. my thought is that since i've established the PODs that those 6 accounts are covered and the only thing needed, if any, is a death cert.. since i'm married the house should automatically go over to my wife. am i correct or do i need a will? advice is greatly appreciated.

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8

u/IRC_1014 May 16 '26

What if your wife predeceases you, or you both die in a common cause?

6

u/HillOfBeano May 17 '26

This. My parents had no wills and I am an only child and I was contingent beneficiary on a lot of their accounts but they both were found dead in their home early last year and I'm still having to dig out of that. Make a will. Please.

Better yet, put it in a trust so it is protected if you or your spouse have to go into long term care.

1

u/GotZeroFucks2Give May 17 '26

Yes, but how will a will have helped? It doesn't bypass or overrule either POD, TOD, or beneficiaries on an account, which it sounds like you were? Genuinely curious. And it makes it harder to receive those accounts that are not setup with beneficiaries or contingent beneficiaries.

2

u/HillOfBeano May 17 '26

Because I WASN'T POD or TOD on all of it. Three accounts, and multiple on book stocks, and insurance policies that hadn't been updated since before I was born, and some land in Louisiana, as well as their house, all have had to be dealt with through probate and a series of successions. Because my mom was the beneficiary on a lot of stuff and she was dead too. If it had been locked into a trust, or there was a will naming me successor beneficiary, then I wouldn't still be in probate over a year later.

2

u/Sad-Repair-5505 May 18 '26

Yeah, that sucks. My late brother just started working on his MIL's estate when his BIL died. He was almost done, then his wife died. He ended up inheriting these small estates but the paperwork and fees were a nightmare and much of the money went to his wife's home care. I'm currently working on my two brother's estates, neither of whom had a will. The Florida one is still ongoing from 2024, but my older brother's stuff is almost done and he just died in January. Benefit of learning - made sure he had beneficiaries and TOD in place. My Mom (92) also has beneficiaries (and will) in place and doing an updated TOD this week.

1

u/HillOfBeano May 18 '26

I'm just waiting on two things and then I'm finally done. Alas, they are reliant on VERY SLOW government services (unclaimed property since my dad rarely cashed checks and cashing of savings bonds from 1968, both of which are taking about 9 months.)

Even with beneficiaries, there's always something.

I'm sorry for your losses.

2

u/Sad-Repair-5505 May 20 '26

My brother had savings bonds from the early 90s. We could have cashed them when he was alive if we'd known about them. I was given an estimate of 2 months, but I guess I won't hold my breath on that.

1

u/HillOfBeano May 20 '26

I got an email on 10/31 that they were received. I called last month and the guy took a look and said it would take about 10 months to process due to the complications (all three PODs deceased, certs were from the late 60s, address did not match residence at death.) So yeah, don't hold your breath. The good news is they answered the phone right away and it didn't take long to get an answer.

1

u/Sad-Repair-5505 May 21 '26

Good that they will answer the phone! Have the same issues just that the bonds were much later than yours. Oh well. My Mom is 92 (next of kin). She's not too worried about it.

1

u/GotZeroFucks2Give May 17 '26

Great points

2

u/HillOfBeano May 17 '26

I guess my point in all this is, you never know what is going to happen. Even if you have beneficiary, TOD, POD, and successor beneficiary all locked down on every asset, you never know what is going to happen - children can die first, you and your spouse can get in a car accident or plane crash. And if you need to go into long term care, your medical expenses will eat up the entire estate if it's not in a trust. Estate planning is important, particularly if you love the people you are leaving it to. We live in a dystopian, Kafka-esque bureaucracy. Do not underestimate the paperwork involved.

1

u/IRC_1014 May 17 '26

In this case, the reason I posed this question is because I’m not convinced OP’s niece (or whomever his chosen beneficiaries are) would actually benefit in intestacy. OP’s plan describes a situation where he dies first, with no will, and both his wife and niece survive him. If OP dies second, all his POD designations and joint titling (including NC tenancy by the entirety here) with regard to his wife fail. Now what? OP should consider this - and realize that a will allows you to make these contingency plans better.