If a person dies without leaving a will, who determines the distribution of their estate?

• A. A court-appointed executor determines the distribution
• B. Intestacy rules determine who inherits
• C. The state takes all assets
• D. The beneficiary named on a standing directive wins

Answer: (B)

When there is no will, the estate is distributed according to intestacy rules. These laws specify who inherits based on the deceased’s surviving relatives, and the shares depend on the family situation and jurisdiction. A court appoints an administrator to handle the estate—collecting assets, paying debts, and then distributing the remaining assets strictly in line with those intestacy rules. So the distribution isn’t decided by a person’s own preferences or by the state by default; it follows the statutory order of entitlement. The other options don’t fit because there’s no will to appoint an executor, the state doesn’t automatically take everything, and there’s no standing directive to rely on when there’s no will.