And Who Exactly is That?: Defining Heirs-at-Law

“The patient is not likely to recover who makes the doctor his heir.”

--Thomas Fuller

          In the event that a person dies without a will, the state will need to determine who are the deceased person’s “heirs-at-law.” This is also true in the event that all the devisees in a Will predecease the decedent.

            In Minnesota, a person’s heirs-at-law and determined by statute.  Below is an illustration of a table used to determine heirs-at-law.  Imagine a scenario where a person dies without a spouse, without children, and with no living parents or siblings.  Who would inherit the deceased person’s assets?  Looking at the table, the next set of individuals to inherit would be any living nieces or nephews.  If there were no living nieces or nephews, then grand nieces or nephews would inherit.  If there were no grandnieces or nephews, then we move onto the next column and work our way down.