A person dies intestate who either has made no testament at all or has made one not legally valid; or if the testament he has made be revoked, or made useless; or if no one becomes heir under it.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) A person dies intestate if he made no will, made an invalid will, had his will revoked, or if no one qualifies as heir under its terms — any of these failures triggers the rules of intestate succession.

Where this applies

• A woman dies without ever writing a will, and her estate passes under the state's intestacy laws to her closest living relatives.
• A man wrote a will but never signed it or had it witnessed, so the court declares it invalid and his estate is distributed as if he died intestate.
• A testator's will names an heir who predeceased him and no alternate was named, so the court treats the estate as intestate for that portion.