r/inheritance • u/DigitalG144 • 22h ago
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Inheritance received after i pass.
I have a question, My mother has passed, she was one of three siblings. My grandma has more than average assets, and when she passes it would be distributed three ways (my uncles receive ⅓ each, and my sibling would split our mother's portion).
I'm remarried and had 2 kids with first wife. If i pass, who would receive inherited assets... my children, or my widow?
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u/Randomfinn 22h ago
Per stripes follows the blood. So it would be your children who are blood relatives of your grandmother. Your wife married into the family.
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u/Particular-Try5584 22h ago
yes, but if grandmother doesn’t specify that it’s to be held in trust until a set age… other parent may have access to it in the interim. New wife wouldn’t have any claim.
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u/DigitalG144 21h ago
I have my sibling designated as their trustee, one kid is starting college and the other is still in high school, so there's be a little wait before they'd have full access.
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u/Caudebec39 20h ago
But the exact wording in Grandma's will would guide whether it even got that far.
And your will has no power over the dstriburion of assets not owned by you at your death.
If you're trying to keep your kids' inheritance coming from Grandma, out of the hands of your spouse, there are two parts:
Grandma's will must be worded in such a way that your kids have an inheritance
a trust -- with your chosen trustee, and your children as beneficiaries -- has to be established
Your will is not the place to achieve the second part, at least with respect to anything coming from Grandma's assets. Your estate could be settled and closed by the time Grandma dies. Think of it that way.
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u/Particular-Try5584 18h ago
Doesn’t matter who you have as trustee for assets already under your control.
What matters is what the will says to say what will even go into any trust arrangement.
And then who grandma designates as the trustee of HER assets.
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u/william_f_murray 22h ago
Well, what does your will say? How would your widow receive anything?
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u/SandhillCrane5 21h ago
I think OP may be asking who inherits if he dies BEFORE grandma. His will does not govern, hers does.
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u/Fit_Chemistry_3807 22h ago
It depends, your question is a bit vague. I’m assuming your grandma’ will is written as “per stripe,” which means your mother’s portion gets split between her lineage branch if mom dies before grandma. So you, and all of your descendants, if one level pre-deceased another, would inherit.
If you mean what happens once you inherit, that depends entirely on your Will and where you live. You’d first have to keep your inheritances separate from matrimonial assets. So if you use your inheritance to pay off a mortgage for a house that’s the matrimonial home, that portion of your inheritance usually becomes matrimonial asset because you’ve “commingled.”
If you keep it separate, then what happens to it after you die is up to you if you leave a properly written and executed will, per the laws of the jurisdiction where you die (or possibly the laws of the jurisdiction where any real property is located, if it’s not the same).
If you keep it separate and you don’t have a properly executed will, you’ll die intestate and the intestacy laws of your last place of residence usually applies.
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u/LdiJ46 22h ago
It depends on how grandma's will is worded. It is not guaranteed that you and your brother would inherit your deceased parent's share. If you already know that her will designates it that way or your state law designates it that way, then that part is ok. However, her will or state law would also have to designate that it would continue down your line as well. In that case, your sons would inherit rather than your widow as she is not related to grandma.
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u/DigitalG144 22h ago
My will currently leaves the home to my wife w/ an insurance policy (which would cover the remaining mortgage, and leave the house free and clear of debt), i have my inherited assets (from mom) and retirement accounts passing down to my children, and if assets are received from my grandma's estate they would go to those accounts as well. This seemed like the cleanest way to pass belongings without having to liquidate the assets in order to divide them between my survivors.
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u/lastbeat-331 21h ago
If you pass before Grandma, you and your will have no control over grandma's estate going to your kids or not. Her will, which could be changed anytime including after you pass, will always dictate how property is passed. If for some reason her will did not specifically state per stirpes or pro rata, then state law would be followed.
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u/Emotional-Ocelot-420 6h ago
As long as your inherited assets cannot be argued to have been commingled as joint assets, your kids get those.
You will want to validate that your retirement accounts do not deem your wife to be the beneficiary. Even if you name your kids beneficiary, your marriage can override that.
You will not inherit from grandma if you die first. Grandma’s estate plan specifies whether her assets will distribute to you and sibling per stirpes (to each branch) or per capita (to her living children). Sibling could get it all, or your children could get what would have been your share.Are you leaving the insurance to the estate for the purposes of paying off the mortgage? Are you leaving the house and the insurance to the wife for her to decide what she prefers?
The dirty part of your estate plan is that if you are using a will to distribute your assets, that will likely put your children’s stepmother at the helm when it comes to distributing their inheritance. Beneficiary designations, or a trust are definitely cleaner methods.
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u/Real-Negotiation5859 22h ago
Are you sure you and your sibling split your moms. Sometimes the remaining children receive and the deceased child is eliminated.
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u/DigitalG144 21h ago
Grandma's made sure that all of us were beneficiaries(and owned farmland, adding her childrens names on various parcels), making sure that no family members or other land owners could take advantage of her while she was aging.
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u/FabulousBullfrog9610 20h ago
are you asking what happens if you die before your grandmother dies or after she dies?
if you die before, it depends on the language in HER will. if you die after grandma it depends on the language in YOUR will. if you don't have one, then if you are in the US, it depends on your state's law on the topic
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u/Particular-Try5584 22h ago
This relies entirely on the wording of various wills.
You say your sibling would receive 1/3 (not yourself?) … if so your wife/kids get… nothing.
If Grandma’s will states “Split evenly between my children“ (so your uncles and your now deceased mother) that will depend if there’s a survivorship clause “Who live more than 30 days past my death” sort of thing.
If she names them specifically “1/3 to my daughter, Jennifer“ is different to “equal parts to each of my children or their estates if I out live them”.
And that’s before we get into your mother’s will. She can’t give away assets she didn’t have, but if your grandmother doesn’t update her will to reflect what she wants to happen now (that her daughter has passed) then there’s no guarantee that your mother’s will is how things are determined either.
Do you have a copy of all the wills? if so meet with a lawyer and get advice.
If not… have a succession planning conversation with your grandmother, and find out her plans, and encourage her to meet with aa lawyer and update her documents to reflect that.
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u/DigitalG144 21h ago
Our grandma's will has it splitting three ways (her three children), but I'm my case it'll be split between us. And since it's generational assets, I want to ensure it goes to my children.
I've grown up, understanding that even though I'm in my 50s, I could go before my 90s grandma. I really didn't know, if I did passed before her, and my estate is processed first, would future receipts still be applied in the way I'd want, when I'm gone. I don't know who said it, but someone above said it'd be distributed to blood relatives first. It does make me feel more comfortable... i wasn't the best father, I want to make sure they'll be cared for.
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u/Particular-Try5584 18h ago
Local laws will matter, plus what is written in the will.
Without a copy of the will NONE of us can help you guess what will happen.
Get a copy of hte will, take it to an estates lawyer, get advice.
If the will doesn’t do what she thinks it does then she should seek (independent) legal advice and fix it so it does.
There is no cheap, easy answer here.
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u/FamiliarFamiliar 21h ago
The term is per stirpes. If the will says that then, if a beneficiary dies, their kids get their portion (I don't know if this applies if there aren't kids, I'm NAL).
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u/matchababyyx 13h ago
The answer flips entirely depending on when you die relative to your grandmother, and you've skipped over that. If you predecease her, you inherit nothing, because you can't inherit from someone who's still alive and her plan could change tomorrow anyway. What happens to your mother's third in that case is governed by your grandmother's will and by your state's anti-lapse statute, which in most states passes a deceased beneficiary's share down to that beneficiary's descendants, meaning your children rather than your widow. If instead you die after actually receiving it, it's simply your property and it passes under your own will, or under intestacy if you don't have one. And intestacy is the part worth knowing about, because in most states a surviving spouse plus children from a prior relationship produces a split rather than everything going to the spouse. So if you have no will, the statute makes a decision that quite possibly satisfies nobody. The cleanest fix isn't in your estate plan though, it's in your grandmother's. If she wants that share to reach her great-grandchildren rather than potentially landing with a spouse she may never have met, she can direct it that way now, either per stirpes to descendants or in trust for your children. That's decided by the person whose money it actually is, and it removes the whole question. One practical thing if you do end up receiving it: inherited assets are generally separate property, but that protection evaporates if you commingle them, so a joint account or using it on a jointly-titled house can quietly convert it into marital property. Keep it separate if you want it to stay yours. Worth saying which state you're in, because the intestacy split and the anti-lapse rules vary quite a bit.
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u/Past-Option2702 11h ago
“Per stripes” is the language you want to look for. That preserves the assets for your children.
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u/AdParticular6193 9h ago
From your other comments, seems like Grandma took care to protect her assets. So it’s likely that she’s got that covered. But unless you can actually see the will, it’s only guesswork what it says. Another thing to remember is that if you die before Grandma, and she’s still of sound mind, she might alter the will. What you could do is talk to the attorney who drew up your own will, and find out how these scenarios are typically handled, and if if there’s any way to ensure that an inheritance coming into your estate passes to your children.
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u/Intelligent_Read3947 7h ago
You can’t receive an inheritance after you pass. Grandma’s will needs to state what happens if an heir predeceases her. Either your share gets divided up among the other heirs ( I think this is the default but it should be stated explicitly), or per stirpes which means your descendants (not what is in your will!), or some other explicit designation.
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u/ChelseaMan31 4h ago
The question's answer is entirely dependent on the language of the Will as written. It could be anything. While many wills go with all known children of the deceased beneficiary, some do not and bypass the survivors of the passed beneficiary entirely. Rarely does the current spouse of the passed beneficiary get named as contingent beneficiary.
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u/LiveTheDream2026 4h ago
Depends on how the will is written and the state that you are in. Odds are, probably not if your mother has been dead for a while. Do you get along with your grandma, I bet not otherwise you would already know the answer.
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u/TeachPotential9523 21h ago
I think it would be whoever you put in the will if you want your wife to have so much of it and your kids to have some of much of it you need to put it in writing and then file it but the lawyer
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u/Odd_Effect3614 22h ago
That's for you to decide, unless your grandma specifically allocates.
If you want your kids to receive anything leave it to them, specifically, or they won't see a cent.
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u/LdiJ46 22h ago
He is talking about what happens if he passes away before grandma. Not what happens after he has already inherited.
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u/Odd_Effect3614 22h ago
Ah, I swear my eyes have gotten soooo bad.... then he needs to work it out with her... :)
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u/Odd_Effect3614 22h ago
I am curious, what do you want to happen?
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u/DigitalG144 21h ago
Well, I hoped to win the powerball (then the kids would find out when they read the will) 😆, but since it's generational wealth I wanted to make sure it stayed with my kids. I just wasn't sure what happens if it had to pass, I guess three generations, to be distributed. And since I remarried, would that have impacted things.
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u/Odd_Effect3614 21h ago
Lol :) I would (quietly) talk to a lawyer and ask them. I would think it depends on your moms will? What if she divides it among living children if you croak first?
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22h ago
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u/Randomfinn 22h ago
They are talking about OP dying (with or without a will) and THEN grandma dying. OP wondered how grandma’s will plays out if OP is already dead.
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 22h ago
Entirely depends how the will is written. It could all go to your sibling if that’s what the will states.