Status of Your Will: Testate or Intestate?

By N. Brian Caverly and Jordan S. Simon from Estate Planning For Dummies

If you have a valid will, you are said to die testate, meaning you have spelled out your
intentions completely and legally in your last will and testament. A will status of
intestate means you dont have a valid will. When only some of your assets are covered
by a valid will, you are partially intestate.
Be sure to periodically consult with your attorney to make sure that your will is complete,
current, and has been properly signed and witnessed, and you will increase the
likelihood of your will status being testate (remember, thats good!).
Depending on your particular circumstances, the implications of your intestacy can be
far-reaching. Most importantly, dying intestate results in your estate being distributed
through the laws of intestate succession a technical way of saying that the legal
system decides how your estate is distributed. Essentially, your state writes a sort of a
virtual will, made up of your states default clauses that apply to the particulars of you,
your family, and your estate.
Intestate means that you have no say whatsoever in how your estate is distributed and
who receives it. The intestate succession laws vary by state, but are usually similar in
purpose, basically determining who receives your estate. The intestate law establishes
a particular priority for distributing your estate. Did you have a spouse? Did you have
children? What other relatives are in the picture?
If you die intestate and you had wanted to leave $100,000 worth of IBM stock to the
family housekeeper who has been with you for years, and who even worked for your
parents, your housekeeper will most likely never receive anything from your estate. Of
course, whoever does wind up with that $100,000 worth of IBM stock according to the
intestate succession laws may later transfer that stock to the housekeeper, as you
wanted, but dont count on it!
Partial intestacy is a no mans land when part of your estate isnt covered by your valid
will; its an in-between will status, not quite testacy but not quite intestacy, either. Very
often, forgetting to include a residuary clause in your will is what causes you to be

considered partially intestate when you die. Technically, your wills residuary clause
covers the leftovers in your estate that you didnt explicitly mention in real property
clauses or personal property clauses.
If you have prepared your will, you may think that you no longer have to worry about
being intestate or partially intestate. Wrong! You may have overlooked some little item
that could negate your will completely if a disgruntled family member contests your wills
validity.
The result, if that disgruntled person is successful: You may be rendered into intestacy if
your will is declared invalid, resulting in your estate being distributed through intestate
succession.