One of the hardest things for the survivors of someone who passes away is if that person has left no valid Will. The estate is then forced into “Intestacy Proceedings.” (That is, unless the value of the estate is so low that it qualifies for the “small estate exemption” to probate laws.)
The family is left going into what amounts to formal probate proceedings, but using the state’s statutory laws as the Will provisions. Maybe in some states that means that some or all of the estate value goes to the state, but not in Utah. Here, the gap-filler statutes pretty much send the estate assets to the normal heirs at law: spouse, then kids, then parents, then siblings, etc., with each next level only taking if there is no one to inherit at the previous level.
But still, this process takes months to complete, and therefore costs a lot more than if the deceased person had simply created a valid Will.
(Utah’s intestate succession laws can be found in the Utah Code, sections 75-2-101 and those that follow.)