This week’s question comes from Nathan P. from San Carlos who asks: “My wife died suddenly. We were separated at the time of her death but hadn’t filed any kind of papers. We were just taking some time to figure out where we were at and where we were going after 20 years of being married. We had two children, aged 10 and 14. My 14-year-old son died in the same accident. I always told my wife that she needed to draft a will, but she believed doing so could invite death, so she has no will. Her mother is angry with me for our separation and is stating that she should get all her assets and the value of her share of our home which we owned jointly. What happens when someone dies without a will?”