Dying Intestate? What’s that?

When a person dies with a Will, they are deemed to die “testate”. In the case where an individual dies without a Will, they are deemed to have died “intestate” – that is to say, without a Will. 
Each jurisdiction has an act which deals specifically with this situation.

There can be any number of reasons why people die without having prepared a Will, but what they may not realize is that, they do already have a succession plan, albeit one prepared for them by the government. The various intestate succession acts determine who will inherit the estate. Preparing a Will negates the intestate succession acts and allows the testator to make these important decisions themselves.

Having a Will is insufficient to prevent dying intestate. 
The will must also be current and valid.

Over a period of a few years, many things can change in our lives that affect our wills. We could get married or divorced, have a new grandchild, lose a parent, buy or sell property, move, inherit, give items away, change jobs, retire, become sick or incapacitated or win a lottery. All of these are, in one way or another, reasons to revisit your will. 
For example, in the first one, marriage by law automatically nullifies all prior wills in many jurisdictions. So, even if someone updated their will the week before marrying, they could die intestate if it wasn't updated again.

While it can differ from one jurisdiction to another, the typical estate distribution is:

1. Spouse and children.
2. If no children – spouse only.
3. If no spouse - then all to children.
4. If no spouse and no children, then to parents.
5. If no spouse, children, nor parents then to brothers and sisters.
6. If no spouse, children, parents nor brothers and sisters – then to nieces and nephews.
7. If none of the foregoing, then an equal share to the next of kin in equal degrees of consanguinity as the intestate.

Furthermore, it is important to pay close attention to some of the definitions under the Intestate Succession Acts. For example, how does each jurisdiction define a ‘spouse’?

If more people understood the implications of dying intestate, they would take far greater initiative ensuring it didn’t happen in their own families.