If you die without a will then the handling of your estate is governed by the Estate Administration Act. The act takes the decision making out of your hands and the provisions in the act set out who gets what. For example, if you die and leave a surviving spouse and no children, the act sets out that your spouse will get your entire estate. If you leave a spouse and one child, then your spouse will get the first $65,000.00 of your estate and then your spouse and child will split the remainder if there is any. If you die without a will, you cannot change this distribution or gift items to anyone other than according to the provisions of the act.
