We have told you before that under the laws of Intestate succession your estate is distributed to your closest living relatives if you pass away without an estate plan or at least a Will. However, what we haven’t told you is that it is not always easy for your relatives to claim their inheritances. In some cases, unrelated people step in and try to claim to be related and officials have to determine who is actually related to you. This is exactly what happened recently in Nevada with the estate of Walter Samasko Jr.
Samasko was a recluse whose home was scheduled to be sold by city officials. However, when they were cleaning out the home, the officials found that Samasko had been dead for about a month. His body was found in the garage. A dead body was not the only surprising thing to be found in the home. Officials also found $7.4 million in gold bars and coins stored all over the house.
Because of the large amount of money and Samasko’s reclusive nature, many people claimed to be related to him. Officials were required to investigate all of the claims, which took them months. Eventually, they were able to determine that he had one relative still living, a cousin. She will inherit the entire fortune.
The process would have been much quicker if Samasko had an estate plan.
Stephen A. Mendel, Estate Planning Attorney
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