What Does Estate Mean In Life Insurance? 
An estate means a person 's property or net worth . When the person is deceased , their estate goes through probate and is distributed according to the terms of their will . If there is no will , states have rules of intestate succession they use to disperse the estate . If life insurance proceeds are not left to a person , or the person predeceases the insured person and no other beneficiary is named , then the life insurance proceeds may go into the estate of the deceased . There is it distributed along with the other assets . 