when a person dies without a will a court administrator will oversee the deceased s estate they will gather all assets pay off any liabilities and distribute the remaining assets to the individuals considered to be the beneficiaries of the deceased the heirs at law the probate process is determined by state law 
the remaining assets are passed to the beneficiaries via intestate succession determining the hierarchy of how the assets will be given the intestate succession starts with the deceased s spouse then the children and then the grandchildren if no living family or heirs at law can be located the assets will go to the state 1heir vs beneficiarywhile the term heir legally refers to a person who receives the property of an individual who died intestate in common parlance the word heir is often used to describe those inheriting property as designated by a will however strictly speaking this usage of the word is factually inaccurate as the proper term for such an individual is a beneficiary which legally defines an individual who is entitled to collect the property as prescribed by a will trust insurance policy or another binding arrangement traditionally speaking jewish christian and islamic laws each have their own sets of customs when it comes to heirs not all heirs are beneficiaries such as in the case of an estranged adult child who is intentionally left out of a will likewise not all beneficiaries are heirs for example a person can designate a friend or companion to receive property in this case the friend is not an heir because he would not be the recipient of property if left intestate because he is not a child or direct relative of the decedent however that friend can accurately be called a beneficiary as designated through the deceased person s will or another arrangement a female heir is often referred to as an heiress particularly if the inheritance involves substantial wealth real world examplesthe rockefeller family is one of the most famous families in the world the wealth was accumulated by john d rockefeller through his business in the oil industry though he gave a significant portion of his wealth to charity his heirs were his two surviving children at the time of his death alta rockefeller and john d rockefeller jr both children during and after rockefeller s lifetime received a significant portion of his wealth as his heirs wealth that has continued to be passed down to family members though technically a beneficiary being the only son of rockefeller jr took over the family office and joined the family businesses considered to be the heir to rockefeller the british line of succession is hereditary and is passed down via bloodline from the monarch to their eldest living child either male or female the current monarch is prince charles iii who took on the role after his mother queen elizabeth ii passed away the heir to the throne is charles s eldest child prince william after prince william the heir to the throne is his eldest child prince george 2