What happens if a man dies without a will?

The man's estate will be governed by the law of intestate (without-a-will) succession.  It sounds like the man is survived by a widow;  if so, she will get the first $201,000 of the net estate, and half of anything beyond that;  his three grown children will split the other half of the surplus over $201,000, in equal shares.  The house will be part of the estate, since the widow's name wasn't on it;  the value of the house, in the estate, will be its fair market value at the man's death, minus any liens on it.

The request about a certain item has no legal weight at all, since it wasn't put into a valid will.