I grew up in a suburb of Detroit and the Queen of Soul was a big part of my childhood. Sadly, just days after she passed there was an article reprimanding her for dying without a will. I say “so what.” Her passing without a will may have made little difference to her heirs. Here is why.
If she had qualified retirement accounts, annuities, and insurance, all of those have stated beneficiaries so that those accounts would go directly to the beneficiaries without going through probate.
If she had bank accounts, or non-retirement accounts that had Pay on Death, or similar designation in the title, those accounts would pass to the heirs with a step-up in basis and outside of probate.
If she had any type of Trust set up for her heirs, the assets named in her Trust would pass outside of probate.
There may have been very little in her estate to be probated. While I don’t agree with not having all of the necessary estate planning papers in place, she may have done fine by her heirs without a will.

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