Will

• When you write a will, you provide instructions for the settling of your estate. However, your will does not take effect until after you have died. At that time, a probate judge has to review the will, and your heirs, creditors and other parties have the opportunity to contest the will and make claims on your assets. If the probate judge accepts the validity of your will, then the assets are disbursed in line with the instructions in your will. If a probate judge dismisses the will, which can happen if a will was written under duress, then the death of one of your named beneficiaries has no bearing on the settlement of your estate since your will becomes null and void.
  
  

Contingent Beneficiaries

• Many estate attorneys encourage you to include contingent beneficiaries in your will. This means that you control the disbursement of your assets in the event that your primary beneficiary dies. You can do this either by naming someone as a contingent beneficiary or by leaving part of your estate to a particular individual but including a provision so that the assets in question go to that person's estate if that beneficiary dies before the settlement of your estate. If you chose to do the later, then the funds are disbursed from the beneficiary's estate in accordance with the beneficiary's own will.
  
  

No Provisions

• Many states, including North Carolina, have rules in place that mean that your assets are retained by your estate if your will includes no provisions for the death of your beneficiary and your beneficiary dies before your estate has been settled. In Virginia, if your beneficiary dies before the settlement of your estate, then the assets pass to the beneficiary's own estate unless the beneficiary died within 120 hours of your own death. In that instance, the money remains in your own estate.
  
  

Considerations

• If your beneficiary dies and your state's laws mean that your assets are retained by your estate, then the probate judge must decide how to disburse those assets. Some states, such as Oklahoma, have rules in place that require the probate judge to split your unclaimed assets between specific family members. However, creditors and heirs can contest your will regardless of whether your beneficiary dies before the settlement of the estate. Therefore, you cannot totally control the settlement of your estate simply by writing a will.