No. Your parents will receive the proceeds of the life insurance and the 401(k). Your will controls the distribution of your probate assets, which are those assets that do not have a designated beneficiary, such as your house.

My boyfriend and I were together for more than 10 years, but we never married. He recently died without a will, and he never listed me as beneficiary on his life insurance and 401(k). Do I have a right to inherit a portion of his estate?

No. One of the advantages of a trust over a will is that a trust does not have to go through probate before assets are distributed to beneficiaries. A trust is usually more expensive and complicated to set up than a will; on the other hand, it can take anywhere from 6 to 18 months (or longer) for a will to go through the probate process.

Probate is the process used to ask a judge (usually a probate court judge) to approve a decedent’s will so the instructions in the will can be acted upon.