Jacob Dressler
May 10th, 2024
You’ve seen it before in movies and TV shows – a character inherits a life-changing amount of money from a distant relative, some stuck-up villain tries to get in the way, hilarity and hijinks ensue, and everyone learns a valuable lesson.
What none of these movies or TV shows teach us though, is could any of this actually happen?
The answer is found in what courts call the “laughing heir” statute, which refers to the legal provision that limits the inheritance rights of distant relatives in cases of intestate succession. In the context of U.S. law, the “laughing heir” rule is applied to prevent these distant relatives from inheriting the decedent’s estate. Instead, the estate is distributed to closer relatives such as the decedent’s descendants, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and their descendants. If the decedent is not survived by any of these relatives, the estate may be distributed to the children of the last deceased spouse of the decedent.
Again, though, we’re already getting a little too remotely related to the deceased person that a court (and the government) might think that person doesn’t deserve that money. Who does the government think might deserve it? You’ll never believe it, but they think they do. In some cases, if there are no eligible heirs, the property may escheat (which means “go to,” essentially) to the state.
The lesson here? Make your intent clear!
It is known as the “laughing heir” because that is what these statutes are meant to prevent – a situation where someone gets a letter saying their mom’s aunt’s cousin in Denmark died and they’re the late stranger’s only living relative. That person receiving that letter wouldn’t feel any sense of loss or pain; remember, this person who died, though distant family, is a complete stranger whose existence was completely unknown before the letter saying she’s left you a million bucks…
Jacob Dressler, Estate Planning Lawyer
You’d probably laugh too, right?
