Discover what happens when someone dies without a will, and about intestate succession, the probate process, and how state ...

Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia. Charlene Rhinehart is a CPA , CFE, chair of an Illinois CPA Society committee, and has a ...

Financial planning means giving thought to how you want to manage your investments and other assets during your lifetime. But it also means taking a longer view and considering what will happen to ...

Many Americans fear the government will take everything if they die without a will. In reality, state laws usually ensure ...

Probate Initiation: An interested party, often a family member or creditor, petitions the probate court to open an intestate estate. Appointment of Administrator: The court appoints an administrator ...

What really happens without a will in place Dying without a will means state laws decide who inherits your assets — not you. Probate courts follow intestacy rules to distribute property, often ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

Probate is the court procedure of proving a will after someone (the decedent) who has completed his or her last will and testament dies. If you have a will and pass away, you have passed away testate ...

Grace is Money editor at Which?, on the hunt for ways to help people save with smart tips and deals. She was named personal finance journalist of the year 2025. When someone dies without a will, their ...

The probate process in Pennsylvania varies based upon whether an individual dies having a Last Will and Testament. If someone dies having executed a valid Will that was in existence at the time of ...