What happens if you die without a Last Will? The State divides up your property according to an inflexible formula and parcels out your assets. Would you like to see how your State would handle your or your parent's assets without a Last Will to provide direction?

As many as half of all American adults have not written a Last Will. While this can be a major aggravation for someone trying to help with the estate of someone with no family, it can be a nightmare for familiy members caught in the same situation. If you don't have a Last Will, which is a directive about how you want your worldly goods portioned out after your death, things can quickly go awry. You might think that everything will go automatically to your spouse...but think again. You might think that the child who has lived with you for the last decade and helped keep you out of a nursing home will get your house because you made a promise, but if it's not properly written down, guess again.

Just look, for example, at what would happen to Harry's estate, should he die without a Will in Texas. We used a fascinating calculator provided by My State Will, which allows you to plug in estate and family information and calculates by State what the law would probably specify should you die without a Will. The results were interesting, to say the least:

Here was our fictional scenario:

"Harry" and his wife "Mildred" have $350,000 in "community" assets, including their house, which they own together. In addition, Harry has a $150,000 inheritance from his mother (who had the good sense to write a Will), which he has kept in his own name, although they both use the interest it generates to supplement their income. They have two grown children. Harry doesn't want to spend the money to have an attorney draw up a Will because he knows that his wife will automatically inherit the whole $500,000 on his death, so why worry about it.

Besides, he knows that writing a Last Will means he will someday die. He's not ready to deal with that.

Here's what will probably actually happen should Harry die in Texas without a Will:

Mildred will receive all of the $350,000 that she and Harry owned jointly;
She will receive $50,000 from Harry's separate inheritance;
Each child will receive $50,000.

So instead of having all of the $500,000 to live on for the rest of her life, Mildred ends up with only $400,000. This is a big loss. To rub salt into her wounds, one of her children has not spoken to her for more than 25 years, stole from them when he was younger, has a drug and alcohol problem, and would never have inherited a penny if Harry had made a Will.

Mildred will be luckier should she live in Minnesota. She will inherit everything, and the children will inherit nothing. 

If she's unlucky enough to live in Indiana, Mildred would only receive $250,000 and her children, ne'er-do-well or otherwise, would split the remaining $250,000 equally.

Has your parent refused to write a Will? It might be interesting to play around with this calculator. The results might be enlightening and worth showing to your parent.

This calculator only estimates what would happen with someone's money and other assets in the event of death without a Last Will. Where minor children are concerned, there is no way to predict what a Court would decide. Never leave what happens to your children up to powers outside your control.

The website is MyStateWill.com.  You do not have to sign in or identify yourself in any way. Give it a try.

Quick disclaimer: Obviously, they are not giving you legal advice, and you can't rely on the answers that you get from a simple online calculator to make important legal or financial decisions.