What term describes dying without leaving a will?

• A. Testate
• B. Probate
• C. Willful
• D. Intestate

Answer: (D)

Intestacy describes dying without a will. When there’s no valid will, there’s no document to specify who should receive assets or who should administer debts, so the estate is distributed according to the province’s or territory’s rules of intestate succession. Those rules usually prioritize a surviving spouse and children, then other relatives, and if there are no eligible heirs, the estate may go to the government. Since there’s no named executor in a will, the court appoints an administrator to handle the estate under these rules. The term testate applies when someone has died leaving a will, and probate is the legal process to prove a will’s validity and appoint an executor or administrator, which is a step that follows either a will or an intestacy process.