Do You Really Need a Will? Pennsylvania Already Has a Plan for You.

August 2026

"If I don't have a will, what happens?"

Every August, National Make-A-Will Month serves as a reminder of the importance of estate planning. Most discussions begin and end with the same advice: everyone should have a will.

That is generally good advice. But it overlooks an important point.

If you die without a will in Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth does not simply leave your estate without direction. Instead, Pennsylvania law supplies a comprehensive set of default rules governing who inherits your property and who has priority to administer your estate.

In other words, there will be a plan.

The question is whether it will be your plan or Pennsylvania's.

Pennsylvania's Default Plan

A person who dies with a valid will dies testate. A person who dies without one dies intestate.

When someone dies intestate, Pennsylvania's intestacy statutes determine how probate assets are distributed among surviving family members. Depending upon the circumstances, a surviving spouse, children, parents, or more remote relatives may inherit the estate according to a statutory order established by the General Assembly.

These statutes are carefully drafted and, in many cases, produce sensible results. For some individuals, the statutory distribution may even align with their wishes.

But the intestacy statutes are necessarily one-size-fits-all. They cannot account for the countless personal, financial, and family circumstances that make every estate unique.

What Pennsylvania's Default Plan Does Not Do

The greater limitation of dying without a will is often not who inherits, but everything else the law cannot decide for you.

For example, an intestate estate cannot express your preference as to who should serve as the personal representative responsible for administering your estate. Instead, Pennsylvania law establishes a priority system for appointment.

Likewise, if you have minor children, the intestacy statutes do not allow you to nominate the individual you would want to serve as their guardian. While a court always retains the ultimate responsibility of acting in a child's best interests, a parent's nomination in a will is an important expression of that intent.

A will also permits planning opportunities that simply do not exist under the intestacy statutes, including:

  • Creating testamentary trusts for children or other beneficiaries;

  • Protecting inheritances for beneficiaries who may be financially inexperienced or vulnerable;

  • Providing for blended families in a manner tailored to your circumstances;

  • Making specific gifts of sentimental or unique assets;

  • Including charitable bequests; and

  • Coordinating your estate plan with your broader financial and tax planning objectives.

These are personal decisions. They cannot be made by statute.

A Will Is Only Part of a Comprehensive Estate Plan

Even a thoughtfully drafted will addresses only part of the broader estate planning picture.

A comprehensive estate plan frequently includes financial powers of attorney, healthcare powers of attorney, advance directives, beneficiary designation reviews, and, in appropriate circumstances, revocable trusts or other planning techniques.

The appropriate plan depends upon your family, your assets, and your goals, not a standardized checklist.

The Takeaway

Pennsylvania already has a default estate plan for individuals who die without a will.

For some, that statutory framework may largely reflect what they would have chosen themselves.

For many others, however, it will not.

Estate planning is ultimately about exercising the ability to make those decisions yourself by choosing who will administer your estate, who will receive your property, how and when beneficiaries will inherit, and how your loved ones will be cared for after your death.

National Make-A-Will Month is an appropriate reminder not simply to ask whether you have a will, but whether your estate plan accurately reflects your wishes.

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. Every family's circumstances are different, and estate planning should be tailored to your individual objectives and applicable law.

Bass Wilder Chadwick, Esquire
Founder & Principal
Chadwick Estate Law PLLC
Wayne, Pennsylvania
(215) 277-0888
bass@chadwickestatelaw.com
chadwickestatelaw.com