[CaptainYooh]

It is clear that despite several comments from troutman (and a few others) many posters do not understand the difference between dying with and without a will. The former means the government will distribute your estate in accordance with the applicable estate law. The latter means that your estate will be distributed as YOU wish. Issues of fairness, equality and other outside factors should have nothing to do with how YOU want your money to be used after your death, because, theoretically it's your money and you could have spent it before you died without asking anyone for their permission or opinion. Also, in either case, anyone having a claim against the estate can still make it in court (probate process), which deals with financial issues of dead people's debts and legal obligations to other parties (dependents, estranged spouses, lovers etc.)

As I posted earlier based on the link provided by troutman, it appears that our courts are willing to give themselves more power on overwriting the wishes of the deceased, which are not encumbered by legitimate financial claims. This trend is very concerning.