I’m 65 and I have $3 million and no wife, kids, or close family. If I don’t bother with a will, where will my money go when I die?

Let’s say, for example, that Emmett is 65, has no partner, kids, or close family members. He’s saved $3 million, and he’s wondering where his money will go if he just doesn’t bother making an estate plan.

Let’s look at what some lawyers say the rules are, and why Emmett may find that doing nothing isn’t the best idea after all.

This is what happens to your wealth without an estate plan

The first key thing that Emmett needs to know is that there’s a process in place to determine what happens to his wealth after he passes away. However, the specifics depend on the asset type and state law.

“Assets that are beneficiary-designated, such as retirement accounts or life insurance, would pass to [the designated] beneficiary outside of the probate court process,” Kerri Koen, an estate planning attorney and cofounder of Modern Legacy Law Group, told Moneywise.

But for assets with no designated beneficiary, different rules apply. “If you do nothing, the state decides,” said Lisa McCurdy, founder and managing partner of The Wealth Counselor, LLC, a boutique estate and asset protection law firm. “Every state has intestacy laws that distribute your estate to relatives in a fixed order.”

The specifics of that order vary by state, but the focus is typically on ensuring money goes to the closest possible relatives.

“That plan usually looks first for a spouse and children, then parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and then more distant relatives,” Tiffany A. O’Connell, CEO and founding partner of O’Connell Law, told Moneywise. “For someone with no close family, that can mean your estate goes to relatives you barely know — or people you may not even know exist.”

In many cases, those relatives end up with a random windfall. “Planners have a name for these distant relatives. We call them ‘laughing heirs,’” McCurdy said.

And, in some cases, you may have no family at all, which intestacy laws address as well. “If there are truly no living heirs, the state will likely take ownership of your property by a process known as escheat. Hence the well-recognized pun to think of it as ‘cheating’ the people you actually wanted to receive your estate,” Morgan Mitchell, an attorney at Coker, Robb & Cannon, Family Lawyers, told Moneywise.

Explore your options to make a meaningful gift

If Emmett doesn’t want his funds to go to a random person or to the state, he should still take the time to make a simple estate plan. And even if he doesn’t care about his millions, he should put a plan in place to protect himself in his later years.

“For someone with little to no legal relatives, estate planning is especially important because it allows that person to decide who receives the assets, who administers the estate, and who steps in during incapacity,” Koen said.

If Emmett doesn’t name someone to manage his affairs and make decisions on his behalf if he becomes incapacitated, he could find his decisions made by a court-appointed stranger.