Approximately half of American adults do not have a will — a fact that would alarm most of them if they understood what it means in practice. Without a will, the state decides who receives your assets after death through intestacy laws — a formulaic distribution scheme based on legal family relationships that may bear no resemblance to your actual wishes, your actual relationships, or the specific circumstances of your life. The person you have been with for seven years but never married receives nothing under most states’ intestacy laws. The estranged sibling you have not spoken to in a decade may inherit alongside the family members you are close to. And the causes or organizations you supported during your life receive nothing.
How Intestate Succession Actually Works
Intestacy laws prioritize heirs in a specific order determined by the state legislature rather than by the deceased’s individual circumstances. In most states, the hierarchy goes: spouse and children, then parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives. The specific share each category receives varies by state and by the combination of surviving heirs. In most states, a married person with children leaves some portion to the spouse and some to children, with the exact split varying by state law. An unmarried person with no children typically leaves everything to parents; if parents are also deceased, to siblings; if siblings are also deceased, to nieces, nephews, or more distant relatives according to the state’s kinship scheme.
Unmarried partners — including long-term domestic partners who are not legally married — typically receive nothing under intestacy laws in most states regardless of the length or depth of the relationship. Stepchildren are typically excluded unless legally adopted. Friends, caregivers who are not family members, and organizations are excluded entirely. The intestate distribution that a court would impose may produce outcomes that the deceased would have found unacceptable — or even appalling — had they considered the question during their lifetime.
The Probate Process Without a Will
Without a will, the court appoints an administrator to manage the estate rather than a named executor of the deceased’s choosing. This administrator may or may not be the person the deceased would have chosen, and the appointment process itself takes time. The estate must still go through probate — the court-supervised process of validating claims, notifying creditors, and distributing assets — which without the roadmap of a will can be more complex and time-consuming than probate with clear testamentary direction. The resulting estate administration costs — legal fees, court costs, administrator compensation — reduce the assets available for distribution to heirs.
The Minimal Estate Plan Anyone Can Create
A basic will — one that names an executor, directs who receives what, and names a guardian for any minor children — can be created for $100 to $500 using an online service (Nolo, Trust and Will, LegalZoom) or $300 to $1,500 through an estate attorney. The investment of a few hundred dollars produces a legal document that ensures your wishes govern rather than the state’s formula. For most people with straightforward circumstances — no complex business interests, no blended family complications, no large estate tax exposure — the online services produce a legally valid will that adequately addresses their needs. For more complex situations, an estate attorney is worth the additional cost to ensure the plan accounts for the specific circumstances that make the situation non-standard. The fundamental point is that virtually any will is better than no will for anyone with assets, relationships, or wishes that should survive them.