Dying 'intestate' means dying without a valid will. In that situation, state law — not the deceased person's stated wishes, since there are none in writing — determines who inherits the estate. Every state has its own intestacy statute setting out the order in which relatives inherit, and these rules can differ meaningfully from what the deceased person might have wanted informally.

Intestacy laws generally prioritize a surviving spouse and children first, then move outward to parents, siblings, and more distant relatives if there is no closer surviving family. The exact shares each relative receives, and how a blended family or stepchildren are treated, vary by state.

Without a will, there is no named executor, so the probate court appoints an administrator — often a close family member who petitions the court for the role — to manage the estate. The administrator has similar responsibilities to an executor: identifying and valuing assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what remains according to the intestacy statute.

If multiple family members want to serve as administrator, or disagree about who should, the court resolves that dispute, which can add time and, in contested situations, legal expense to the process.

Intestacy laws cannot reflect informal wishes, verbal promises, or estrangement — a family member who was legally entitled to inherit under the statute generally inherits, even if the deceased person told others they wanted something different. Intestacy also does not name guardians for minor children, which is one of the more consequential gaps when a parent of young children dies without a will.

Unmarried partners generally have no automatic inheritance rights under intestacy law in most states, regardless of the length or seriousness of the relationship, which is one of the most common and significant gaps people discover only after a death.

If someone has died without a will, the surviving family typically needs to open probate (or a simplified small-estate process, if the estate qualifies and the state offers one) and determine who the legal heirs are under the state's intestacy statute. Consulting a probate attorney early can clarify who is entitled to serve as administrator and what share each heir will receive.

For people who want to avoid leaving these decisions to a default statute, creating a will — or a more comprehensive estate plan — while healthy and able to do so is the direct way to control how an estate is distributed and who is named as executor or guardian.