Probate Procedure

• If the decedent did not have a will, the probate court in the county in which he resided will appoint an administrator to handle the estate and issue letters of administration to that individual or fiduciary institution. The administrator must pay the decedent's creditors from the proceeds of the estate, must inventory all assets and must file the decedent's final tax returns and the estate tax returns.
  
  

Kansas Intestate Succession

• If the decedent has a surviving spouse and no children or grandchildren, all of the property passes to the spouse. If the decedent has a surviving spouse and children, or grandchildren of a deceased child, the spouse receives one-half of the property and the rest is divided among the eligible children or grandchildren of the deceased child. If the decedent dies unmarried and has children or grandchildren of a deceased child, the property passes in equal amounts to the children. If there is a grandchild or grandchildren of a deceased child along with the decedent's children, they are entitled to the share of the estate the parent would have received if living. If the decedent is unmarried and childless, property passes to surviving parents. If there are no parents, the estate passes to the parent's heirs, such as the decedent's siblings or half-siblings.
  
  

Other Inheritance Law

• For those intestate decedents without close kin, Kansas computes relationship degrees for the purpose of inheritance as "each generation in the ascending or descending line shall be counted as one degree." Relatives deemed further than a sixth degree cannot inherit the property. If the spouse or another relative is convicted of killing the decedent, he forfeits the right to inherit.
  
  If the decedent has no eligible kin under the Kansas intestacy law, property may pass to any heirs of a spouse dying prior to the decedent. If there are no heirs of the late spouse, the decedent's property passes to the state of Kansas.
  
  

Non-probate Assets

• Even if the decedent did not leave a will, not all of his assets may be subject to probate and the Kansas intestacy laws. Any life insurance proceeds pass to designated beneficiaries, as does any bank, brokerage or mutual fund account, motor vehicle title or real estate with a "payable on death" or "transfer on death" provision to beneficiaries. Accounts held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship pass to the other account holders.