See who inherits without a will
100% freeYour state's scenarios at a glance
- This is general information compiled from the state intestacy statutes, not legal advice, and not a substitute for reading the cited section.
- It covers the probate estate only. Life insurance, retirement accounts, payable-on-death accounts, trust assets and joint tenancy property pass outside intestacy to whoever is named on them.
- Four questions cannot see a predeceased child, a disclaimer, an adoption, a pending divorce, the character of each asset, or the debts that are paid before any heir receives anything.
- A spouse who is separated but not divorced is still a spouse. An unmarried partner is not, in any state, without a registered partnership.
Information only, not legal advice. Intestacy statutes are amended and the dollar preferences in several states are inflation-adjusted. Verify the cited section before relying on this.
The order the law follows
Dying without a will does not mean nobody inherits. It means the legislature chose your heirs for you, in a fixed order, and the court follows that order whether or not it matches what you would have wanted.
Every state works down the same ladder: surviving spouse, then children and their descendants, then parents, then siblings and their children, then grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. A class inherits only when every class above it is empty. When no relative can be found at all the estate escheats to the state treasury, which is rare because courts search hard first.
Adopted children inherit exactly like biological children. Most states also protect children born after the parent's death and apply a survival rule, commonly 120 hours, so an heir must outlive the deceased by five days to inherit.
The spouse's share is where states disagree
With no children and no living parents, the surviving spouse takes the entire estate in 48 of the 51 jurisdictions. Add children shared with that spouse and the count falls to 22. Add one child from another relationship and it falls to zero: every single state cuts the spouse's share.
Three patterns do most of the work. Uniform Probate Code states use a dollar preference plus a fraction of the balance, such as the first $150,000 plus half. Older statutes use a flat fraction, a half or a third. Community property states decide only the deceased's half of the community property plus any separate property, because the spouse already owns the other half.
A few states sit outside all three. Arkansas applies dower and curtesy rather than treating the spouse as an ordinary heir, and makes the share depend on whether the marriage lasted three continuous years. Louisiana, a civil-law jurisdiction, often gives the spouse a usufruct — the right to use what the children own — rather than ownership outright.
A child from another relationship changes everything
This is the situation where intestacy most often produces a result nobody intended. The statutes give a spouse the whole estate on the assumption that it will reach the shared children eventually. A child who is not the spouse's breaks that assumption, so the legislature splits the estate at once.
The practical consequences are harder than the fractions suggest. A house usually cannot be divided without being sold. A minor child's share is held under court supervision until they come of age, with an accounting the surviving parent has to file. And in Texas the deceased's half of the community property goes to the children, not to the spouse, the moment any child is from another relationship.
How community property changes the maths
In Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, most property acquired during the marriage belongs to both spouses equally. The surviving spouse already owns half of it, so intestacy never touches that half.
What the statute divides is the deceased's half of the community property plus any separate property — anything owned before the marriage, or received during it by gift or inheritance. Each of those two pots can follow a different rule, which is why a community property answer often has two parts.
The estimator flags these states and splits the answer where the statute does. Which assets are community and which are separate is a question of fact that no tool can settle for you.
What intestacy never touches
Intestacy governs the probate estate and nothing else. These pass directly to whoever is named on them, ahead of every heir in the ladder above:
| Asset | Who gets it |
|---|---|
| Life insurance | The named beneficiary, if they are still living |
| 401(k), IRA, pension | The beneficiary on the plan's own form |
| Revocable living trust assets | The trust's beneficiaries, under its terms |
| Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts | The named payee |
| Joint tenancy and tenancy by the entirety | The surviving co-owner, automatically |
| A spouse's own half of community property | Already theirs; never part of the estate |
For many families this is most of what they own, which can soften a harsh intestate split — or make it worse, when a beneficiary form was never updated after a divorce.
The spouse's share in all 51 jurisdictions
Search any state to compare the two scenarios that differ most: children shared with the spouse, and a child from another relationship. Open the estimator above for the no-children branches, the no-spouse ladder, and the statute citation.
The full table with every citation, the community property rules and the methodology is in our intestate succession by state guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does my spouse automatically inherit everything?
Only in some situations. With no children and no living parents, the spouse takes the whole estate in 48 of the 51 jurisdictions. With children shared with that spouse, the number drops to 22. With a child from another relationship it drops to zero: every state reduces the spouse's share in that case.
Why does a child from a previous relationship change the answer so much?
Because the statutes assume a spouse who inherits everything will pass it on to their shared children. That assumption fails when a child is not theirs, so the legislature splits the estate instead. States that would otherwise give the spouse the entire estate switch to a dollar preference plus a fraction, or to a half or a third.
Do stepchildren inherit?
Not unless they were legally adopted, in nearly every state. A few states let stepchildren inherit at the very end of the line, just before the estate would escheat to the state treasury. Adopted children inherit exactly like biological children everywhere.
What about an unmarried partner?
An unmarried partner has no intestate rights in any state without a registered partnership, however long the relationship lasted. An estranged legal spouse keeps full spousal rights until a divorce is final. This is the harshest result intestacy produces in practice, and a will is the fix.
Does the length of the marriage matter?
Almost never. Intestacy formulas look at whether there was a legal spouse on the date of death, not at how long the marriage lasted. Arkansas is the notable exception: a marriage of less than three continuous years cuts the spouse's share.
What is per stirpes, and why does the tool mention it?
It is how a deceased child's share passes to their own children. Per stirpes keeps the share in that branch of the family. Per capita at each generation, the Uniform Probate Code default, pools the shares at the first generation with a living member and divides them equally. The two produce different results for grandchildren, which is why the system is named in the result.
Does this cover everything I own?
No. Intestacy controls only the probate estate. Life insurance and retirement accounts with a named beneficiary, assets in a living trust, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, and property in joint tenancy pass outside the statute. For many families those are most of the estate.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is general information compiled from the state intestacy statutes, with the controlling section cited so you can check it. Real estates turn on facts a four-question tool cannot see: the character of each asset, debts, a predeceased heir, a disclaimer, an adoption, or a pending divorce. Confirm the cited statute before you rely on any of this.