Intestate means dying without a legal will. If you die intestate, and you own property with a value that exceeds your debts and funeral expenses, your money and property will be disposed of according to the law of your state, and the distribution will take place as determined by a probate court.

Whereas in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and many former Commonwealth countries there are nationwide laws governing intestacy, the United States has refused to make such regulations part of federal law. Instead, intestacy laws are determined by individual states, as well as by tribal law in the case of Native Americans.

Although regulations vary from state to state, intestacy laws, as a general rule, tend to divide property along the following lines:

--      All joint property passes to the spouse.

--      All property not owned jointly also passes to the spouse if there are no surviving children, siblings, parents, nephews, or nieces.

--      If there is one surviving child or any number of siblings, parents, nephews or nieces, the spouse receives half of all property not jointly owned.

--      If there are at least two surviving children, the spouse receives one-third of all property not jointly owned.

Any property that does not pass to a spouse is distributed as follows:

--      To any surviving children (in equal shares)

--      To any surviving parents

--      To any surviving siblings

--      To grandparents or (if they are deceased) to aunts and uncles

--      To any children of a deceased spouse

--      To any other relatives of a deceased spouse

--      To the state of legal residence.