What determines if a probate record exists for an individual?

Question

I've recently discovered the Vermont probate record images in the FamilySearch catalog and have found records for many of my ancestors.  However, some are conspicuously missing.

What determines if there is a probate record or not?

Comments

If the deceased made and recorded a will or family members files other estate papers. Many people died "intestate" -- without a will.

also, the specific estate papers may exist but have not been digitized it even microfilmed. Yet.

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And unless there was property like land or something else of high value, or the potential heirs didn’t agree on who got what, there was not really a need for a will or inventory, In some of the eastern states land that passed by inheritance didn’t require a deed.

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Thanks for the clarifications - I have seen several intestate records; it's good to know that it likely comes down to the value of the estate.

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I some cases I've been able to find a deed a year or so before death or among the children shortly after, sometimes for $1 or as a quit claim

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Deeds were needed to transfer (or divide) land to more than one person or to sell it out of the family.  People with a sizeable estate often transferred property by deed of gift long before they died.  Many times you will find wills that leave only 1 shilling to a child or children and in almost all of those cases the child had already received his or her portion of the estate.   If land passed directly from father to oldest son, however, there was often no deed.  In North Carolina some land wasn't deeded until well into the 20th century.