• If a person dies without a will, state law determines decides how that person's property and money will be given away.
  
• The law that covers how property is handed out when there is no will is called the "law of intestate succession".
  
• Intestate Succession determines who is eligible to inherit a person's money and property and how much they receive. This varies depending on which relatives are living after a person's death.

Married People Need Wills

If a person is married, and dies without a will, that person's husband or wife will not necessarily receive everything.

• The surviving spouse will only inherit the things the spouses owned jointly, such as a home or joint bank account.
  
• Everything else that is in the deceased’s name, such as personal belongings or bank accounts, are distributed by the Intestate laws and may or may not go to the deceased’s husband or wife.