Intestate Succession Calculator

How intestate succession works

Intestate succession is the set of default rules a state uses when a person dies without a valid will, or when a will does not dispose of everything. The rules name an order of relatives and the share each one takes. The probate court applies them, usually after an administrator is appointed and the estate's debts and expenses are paid.

The rules only reach property that passes through the estate. A house held in joint tenancy with a right of survivorship, a bank account with a payable-on-death beneficiary, life insurance, and retirement accounts with a named beneficiary usually go straight to the co-owner or beneficiary, whatever the intestacy statute says.

Most states put the surviving spouse and the descendants first, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then more distant relatives. If no relative within the statute's reach survives, the property goes to the state (escheat). The calculator shows each state's own order and the section that sets it.

What the surviving spouse takes

The spouse's share is where states differ most. With two adult children who are also the spouse's, and no other children of the spouse, 21 of the 51 jurisdictions give the spouse everything; the others split the estate between the spouse and the children, sometimes with a fixed dollar amount to the spouse first (24 jurisdictions use a dollar amount in at least one case).

Blended families change the answer in many states. In 32 jurisdictions the spouse's share is different when a child is from another relationship, which is why the calculator asks whether every child is also the spouse's and whether the spouse has children of their own.

In Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Texas, part of the spouse's share can be a life estate or a similar right to use property for life rather than outright ownership in some situations. The results say so where it applies.

Community property states

In Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, property earned during the marriage is generally community property, and the surviving spouse already owns half of it. Intestacy only decides the half that belonged to the person who died, and separate property (owned before the marriage or received by gift or inheritance) follows its own rule. The calculator asks for each kind separately in those states.

Oklahoma is not a community property state, but its statute treats property acquired by the couple's joint industry during the marriage differently from other property, so the calculator asks for each.

In Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Texas, the statute treats real estate and personal property differently, so the calculator asks for each.

Children, stepchildren, half-siblings and timing

Adopted children generally inherit from their adoptive parents like biological children, though states differ on inheritance from and through birth relatives and on some other conditions. Children born outside marriage inherit from a parent once parentage is established, and some states set a short deadline after the death to establish it, so check the deadline checklist promptly. Stepchildren generally do not inherit by intestacy unless they were legally adopted, though a few states let them inherit in narrow cases, such as when no closer relative survives. The results show each state's rule and its source.

When a child died before the parent, that child's share usually passes to their own children. States differ on how the shares are counted when several children have died; the calculator names the method and does not compute splits below the children's generation.

Half-brothers and half-sisters take the same share as full siblings in most states; in Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas and Virginia they take half as much. An heir usually has to outlive the person who died by a set time to inherit: 38 jurisdictions use 120 hours.

Spouse shares by state

Three common situations, for each jurisdiction. The full calculator covers the rest of the family, the rules for parents and siblings, and the exceptions. Each state links its probate guide.