Do I need a will? Do I need to update my will?  Blaise E. Picchi
Written by  Wills and Living Wills Lawyer  Contributor Level 15
Posted over 4 years ago. 7 helpful votes     People often asks
me if they need a will, or if their parents need a will. What
happens if I die without a will? Will the state take all my
property? What happens if I made a will twenty years ago and die
without updating it? Is it still good? It is never a bad idea to
have a will, even if you have little or nothing to distribute to
your heirs when you die. Who knows, maybe you will win the
lottery just before you die. But if you die without a will, the
state most emphatically does not take your property unless you
have no heirs anywhere.. There are probate laws enacted by the
legislatures of the states that provide for descent and
distribution of the property of a decedent (dead person) who
dies "intestate", i.e., without a will. What those laws provide
for is a distribution of the decedent's property in the manner
most normal people w