Dying Intestate.
In plain English
Dying intestate means you die without a valid will in place. When that happens, you do not get to say who receives your property. Instead, your state's intestacy laws apply a fixed formula, usually passing assets to a spouse, children, parents, or more distant relatives in a set order. If no relatives can be found, the property can ultimately go to the state. A court still oversees the process, appointing an administrator to settle the estate. Because the formula and the court steps differ by state, state law governs exactly who inherits and how.
01Why it matters
Without a will, a one-size-fits-all state formula decides everything, which can leave out an unmarried partner, a stepchild, or a favorite charity, and can hand a court the decision about who raises your minor children.
02The math, step by step
An unmarried person with a long-term partner dies with no will. Under most states' intestacy rules, the partner inherits nothing because they were not legally a spouse, and the assets pass instead to blood relatives like parents or siblings in the order state law sets.
03What this is NOT
The state taking everything (called escheat) is rare and only happens when no qualifying relatives can be found. Usually your assets still go to family, just in the order the state chooses, not the order you would have. Writing a will is the constructive first step to keep that choice yours.
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