If you’re among the estimated 50 percent of Americans who don’t have a last will and testament, you are giving up control of how your property will be distributed upon your death. Your estate might not go to the heirs you prefer or it might go to them in different proportions than you would wish.

If you die without a will, you are said to die intestate. Under Connecticut intestacy law, your estate will be distributed in specified ways, depending on which of your family members outlives you. Take, for example, the situation in which your spouse survives you. The law contemplates four situations:

• If you don’t have any surviving parents or descendants, your spouse will get 100 percent of your estate.
• If you also left parents but have no descendants, your spouse will get the first $100,000 of your estate, plus 75 percent of the remainder, and your parents will get the remaining 25 percent.
• If you have descendants, all of whom are also the descendants of your surviving spouse, your spouse will get the first $100,000, plus 50 percent of the remainder, while the children get the other 50 percent.
• If some of your surviving descendants are not descendants of your surviving spouse, your spouse and your descendants will each get 50 percent of your estate.

In short, dying intestate could result in your leaving all of your estate to your spouse and failing to provide as much as you want to other family members.

The amount of your estate that does not go to your spouse will be split evenly between your surviving children and any children who predeceased you but left descendants of their own, who in turn will split the share their parent would have received if that parent had lived. If you have no spouse, your descendants will split the entire estate. If you have no descendants, your parents or other next of kin will inherit. In the worst case scenario, if you have no heirs, your property will go to the state.

In addition to executing a will, you can place property in a valid living trust, which will make it exempt from your estate and therefore not be subject to intestate distribution. Assets in a trust can go directly to specified family members or other beneficiaries. However, the trust does not apply to any other assets you may own at death, so you should have a will to cover them.

The best way to take control of how your estate is distributed upon your death is to have your will and living trust prepared by a knowledgeable estate planning attorney who can ensure that these documents are valid and that their provisions are carried out.

Gesmonde, Pietrosimone & Sgrignari, L.L.C. in East Haven and Hamden assists Connecticut residents with wills, trusts and other estate planning needs. Please call 203-745-0942 or contact us online for a consultation at our East Haven or Hamden office.