Who Inherits If You Die Without a Will in Vermont

After debts, funeral charges, allowances and administration expenses, the surviving spouse takes the entire estate if the decedent left no descendants or if all of the decedent's descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse; the spouse takes one-half if any descendant of the decedent is not a descendant of the spouse. Whatever does not pass to the spouse goes to descendants by representation; if none, to the parents equally (or the surviving parent); if none, to brothers and sisters and the descendants of deceased siblings; if none, to grandparents (half to each side); if none, to the next of kin in equal degree. A person must survive the decedent by 120 hours to inherit.

A surviving spouse may waive the will and instead take one-half of the balance of the probate estate after allowances, claims and expenses. The court must send the spouse notice of this right within 30 days after the initial inventory is filed, and the spouse must file a written election within four months after the later of service of that notice or service of the inventory (unless the court orders otherwise). The right can be given up by a written waiver. Vermont is not a community property state.

Vermont does not use an out-of-court collection affidavit. Instead, a small estate (fair market value of $45,000 or less, consisting entirely of personal property, with no real estate other than a time-share) may be opened in the Probate Division by filing a petition, a list of interested persons, the filing fee, an original death certificate, an inventory, an affidavit of paid and outstanding funeral expenses and debts, a bond without surety equal to the estate's value, and the will, if any. Interested persons who do not consent in writing have 14 days after notice to object; if none object, the court approves the fiduciary and any will without a hearing.