After Roberta's death, a probate court examined her valuable papers and determined that she left no valid will. Robert was thus found to have died intestate. Due to this finding of intestacy, the state's laws on intestate succession would determine which of Roberta's heirs could claim title to her house.
At the time of death, Roberta was not married and had no children. Under the intestacy rules in Roberta's state, "[t]he property of a person who dies ab intestato without a spouse and children shall be transferred to the state, unless heirs can be found from the following list, in which case the first available set of heirs takes the property: parents, siblings of whole blood or their issue, half-siblings or their issue, grandparents, uncles and aunts of the whole blood, uncles and aunts of half blood."
Roberta's nephew inherited her house because he was the sole issue of Roberta's only sibling, who was herself no longer alive at the time of Roberta's death.
