system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: The importance of a will for my belongings after I die.

I'm a recent college grad and don't own anything, but when I'm older, I expect to own a few nice things. 

If I don't have a will, can the government just take everything from me after I die or would my hypothetical children be able to just take it and keep it? Things like a expensive pieces of art and fancy heirlooms. 

Do children have to pay taxes on the value of the items they inherit? If that is the case, that just seems like a mobster bullying the local business owner. "Pay me some money so I don't break the windows of your store." 

My intention is not to turn this into a political conversation, I'm genuinely curious as to how all that works. Thanks for the answers.
gpt
It depends on the state. That being said, the very, very basic answer is this:

If you die without a will, it's called dying intestate. Basically, what will happen is that the government decides how to divide your stuff using state law. So will your kids/wife/etc get your stuff? Maybe/probably/it depends.

A will basically allows *you* to decide how to decide to divide up your stuff when you die.

Think of dying intestate like dying with the default setting on and using internet explorer. Dying with a will is more like custom settings and using a bunch of plug-ins with Chrome. One is clearly better than the other and causes far fewer headaches and problems.