Written & reviewed by NotALawyer Review AI · Updated June 26, 2026
If you die without a valid will, you die "intestate" — and your state's succession statute, not your wishes, decides who inherits. Most states send everything to your closest relatives in a fixed order: spouse and children first, then parents, then siblings, and outward from there. A court appoints an administrator to settle the estate, and people the law doesn't recognize as heirs — an unmarried partner, a close friend, a favorite charity — generally receive nothing by default.
A will is how you override your state's one-size-fits-all rules. Without one, a statute decides who gets what and in what shares, and the order is fixed no matter how well it fits your family. The exact priority list is set by your state; you can see the default in the panel and 50-state table on this page.
Many people assume a surviving spouse inherits the whole estate. In reality, a number of states split it between the spouse and the children, and the split can shift when there are kids from a prior relationship. How much the spouse keeps depends on your state's formula.
Intestacy laws track legal relationships — marriage, blood, and legal adoption. Say two partners live together for fifteen years but never marry; if one dies without a will, the survivor typically inherits nothing under the default rules, and the estate may pass to relatives the deceased rarely spoke to.
With no will, there's no named executor, so the probate court appoints an "administrator" — often a close relative — to inventory assets, pay debts, and distribute what's left. In some states that person must post a bond, and they answer to the court throughout the process.
Life insurance, retirement accounts, and payable-on-death accounts pass to whoever you named as beneficiary, regardless of intestacy rules. Jointly owned property with survivorship rights usually goes straight to the co-owner. Intestacy only controls what's left over.
More on this topic: the Wills & Estate Planning hub
When a person dies without a will and leaves both a spouse and children, this is the portion of the estate the surviving spouse inherits, with the children sharing the rest. Each value is cited to the state statute or agency; a state with no sourced figure shows "Not yet sourced."
General information, not legal advice. Rules change and exceptions apply — confirm the current rule with the cited source for your state.
NotALawyer.com provides general legal information, not legal advice.