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How do wills and intestacy laws determine who receives property after death?

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Oil portrait of Hugo de Groot, also known as Hugo Grotius, by the workshop of Michiel Janszoon van Mierevelt, showing him with a ruffled white collar and dark clothing. — Property law Portrait of Hugo de Groot (Hugo Grotius), oil on panel by the workshop of Michiel Janszoon van Mierevelt, 1631; in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

In property law, the distribution of assets after death is determined either by a valid will or by intestate succession laws when no such document exists.123

Wills

A will is a legal instrument that allows an owner to dispose of their assets according to their specific wishes. For a will to be valid, it must generally meet legal formalities, such as being witnessed, though some jurisdictions accept holographic wills (handwritten and often unwitnessed). Once a person dies, the probate process is used to validate the will, pay debts and taxes, and distribute the remaining property to designated beneficiaries. While Anglo-American systems generally allow significant freedom of testation, they may still provide protections for a surviving spouse.245

Intestacy Laws

If a person dies without a valid will, they are considered to have died intestate. In this case, the state distributes the estate according to statutory rules. While these laws vary by jurisdiction, they share the principle of favoring kinship. Typically, the estate passes first to the surviving spouse and children. If no spouse or children survive, the property is distributed among other relatives, such as parents, siblings, or grandparents, based on their degree of kinship. If no eligible relatives can be located, the state may take possession of the estate.41356