IMO any adult with family who does not have a will is plain stupid and inconsiderate.
I believe the matter is better framed as a massive headache for remaining family to sort through right at a time they can really do without further hassles. Dealing with the loss of a family member is never easy for anyone and these types of issues really don't help. The same goes for EPAs - the time your partner is in a coma is not a good time for an argument with the Public trustee or lawyers and accountants.
Just plain stupid and inconsiderate... couldn't have put it better myself!
I agree with these sentiments.
Here's a true story... Nth Qld family owns a cane farm. Mum and Dad want to pass it on to eldest son, who works on the farm. For various reasons, they transfer ownership of the cane farm into the eldest son's name before they retire, even though they intend to continue living on the farm until they pass away. There's no intention for them to pay rent, and in fact, in return for the gift of the farm, the parents are going to get a share of the cane farm profits until they pass away. (I think this was all related to optimising their position with regard to pension assets and income tests.) It was all done on a handshake basis. Son lives elsewhere with his wife, who works with him on the cane farm. All is fine until the son dies in a farm machinery accident. He's intestate, so the ownership of the cane farm automatically goes to the daughter-in-law. Thankfully, she's a great gal, works on the farm, loves her parents-in-law etc, so it's still not a problem, they live there and are paid a profit share. BUT... the lesson hasn't been learned, and a year or two later, tragically, the daughter-in-law is killed in a car accident, and she's also intestate.
Ownership of the cane farm now goes automatically to her parents. Her parents don't like the in-laws, for various reasons. Parents-in-law now find themselves in their late 60s, kicked out of the home they'd lived in for 40 years, and deprived of a substantial portion of their income.
Ultimately, I understand that the parents-in-law ended up "buying back" their own cane farm from the parents-in-law for nearly $1M, with the help of their other kids.
All of which could have been avoided by having thought through the possibilities and putting the appropriate documents in place.