Basic Legacy Building: What Happens When You Depart

When you transition from your physical body, the law recognizes that you and the things you own are separate and something needs to happen with those things you've left behind. To die "intestate" means that a person had no valid will in place to decide what happens to the things they own; when one dies "testate," those details have been worked out.

A person's estate (their property) must be probated by the court, meaning that the testate person with a will has that document validated and dispensed according to the will; the person that dies intestate without a will has the fate of their legacy decided upon by the court. Each state provides for its own rules to address intestacy but the general consensus is that the probate goes much faster and smoother for the one that had a will versus the person that did not.