It is a type of affidavit that is only used when a deceased soul goes without leaving a will or without mentioning his assets in a will. This affidavit helps with the transfer of the deceased soul assets to his/her heirs. The heirs should be related by blood to the deceased person like children, parents, or spouse.
When someone dies without leaving any will behind, then the Affidavit of Heirship can be used to hand over all the property left by the deceased person to their heirs. It can also be used when the deceased person did actually have a will but it never got to the court, which means it didn’t go through any legal process.
The affidavit of heirship is required by many states or banks for transferring the rights or ownership to the deceased person’s heir like children, spouse, or family members. The things to include are credit cards, bank accounts, and vehicles owned by the person. Many people confuse Affidavit of Heirship with Affidavit of Death and they both are very similar to each other but both still vary a lot from each other.
The affidavit of heirship offers an easy way to hand over the wealth through a legal process. Whereas, without it, it can be a hefty and time-consuming process with countless trips to the court. The affidavit lists all the relationship information that includes their family members such as spouse, children, parents, siblings, or maybe nieces or nephews. The process is performed to make sure that the wealth is evenly distributed among the heirs. Additionally, it also features some basic details about the deceased person like his/her identity and all the assets.
Like any other affidavit, the affidavit of heirship also requires to be signed by an affiant, who isn’t an heir or related by blood to the deceased person. It can be a friend or someone who personally knows the deceased person. Make sure to submit the signed affidavit along with the deed record to a local court.
What Type Of Information Is Required For An Affidavit of Heirship?
An affidavit of heirship can require the following given things:
- Basic information regarding the departed soul.
- Confirm whether the deceased person has left a will or not after their death.
- List down all the properties and assets that are still owned by the deceased individual.
- You will also have to list down all the personal belongings left by the person like their vehicles, credit cards, bank accounts, etc.
- List of potential heirs and the type of relationship that they had with the deceased.
- The signatures of the affiant and notary. The affidavit of heirship allows your affiant to act as a witness as well. A witness is someone who takes an oath for all the information provided in the document.
There are certain states that do not allow family members to take advantage of this affidavit in order to transfer the deceased individual personal items such as credit cards, vehicles, or bank accounts. But that does not apply to all states.
Why Should I Get an Affidavit of Heirship?
If you’ve lost someone that is close to you and didn’t left any will behind then you should definitely opt for an affidavit of heirship. You will need it to take control of all the properties and assets left by the deceased. In order to transfer the ownership of properties and assets to your name, you will need to find other potential heirs, who can sign on the affidavit of heirship and declare you as the rightful owner of the properties.
Where Can I File For An Affidavit Of Heirship?
The affidavit of heirship should only be submitted in the county where all the properties belong. Different counties have different filing fees, so make sure to call them and ask how much they charge. The fees is based on the number of pages. Usually, the first page cost anywhere between $5 and around half of that for additional pages. Some counties also allow you to file two different affidavits as a single one, only if the deceased person and property description are similar.
So, that was our article on affidavit of heirship. If you enjoyed reading this article then please don’t forget to share it with others. As always, if you have any questions then don’t forget to drop them in the comments area.