See who inherits a California estate when there is no will, under the California Probate Code.
Net value of the estate that passes by intestate succession (assets minus debts).
California is a community property state. Property earned during marriage is usually community property; property owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance is usually separate property.
A registered domestic partner is treated like a spouse for intestate succession in California.
Count living children and children who died leaving their own descendants.
Surviving spouse
Children / other heirs
This is a general estimate under California Probate Code Sec. 6401 and Sec. 6402. It does not cover every situation, such as stepchildren, half relatives or predeceased heirs with their own descendants. This is not legal advice.
Without a will, California law decides who inherits and how much. A valid will puts that choice back in your hands.
Create my willCreate a clear, valid California will draft in minutes so your estate passes the way you want.
Create your will nowWhen someone dies in California without a valid will, they die intestate. State law, not the person, then decides who inherits the estate. These rules are set out in the California Probate Code, mainly Sec. 6400 to Sec. 6402. The estate passes to the closest surviving relatives in a fixed order: spouse, children and their descendants, parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants.
California is a community property state. Most property a couple earns or acquires during marriage is community property, and each spouse already owns one half of it. Property owned before marriage, or received by gift or inheritance, is usually separate property. This split matters at death: the surviving spouse always keeps their own one half of the community property, and under Probate Code Sec. 6401 they also inherit the deceased spouse's one half. As a result, the surviving spouse ends up with all of the community property. Separate property is divided differently, depending on who else survives.
For a deceased person's separate property, the surviving spouse's share under Sec. 6401(c) depends on how many other close relatives survive:
All community property still passes entirely to the surviving spouse, whatever the number of children.
When there is no surviving spouse, Probate Code Sec. 6402 passes the estate down a set order. It goes first to the deceased person's children and their descendants, in equal shares. If there are no descendants, it goes to the parents. If no parent survives, it goes to the brothers and sisters and the descendants of any who died. The line continues to grandparents, then more distant relatives, only if no closer relative is alive.
Intestate succession ignores unmarried partners, stepchildren you never adopted, friends and charities, no matter how close they were to you. It can also split an estate in ways that surprise a family, or hand a share to a relative you were not in contact with. A valid California will lets you name exactly who inherits, choose an executor and provide for the people the default rules leave out.
Answer a few simple questions and get a draft tailored to your situation, instantly as PDF, Word and OpenOffice.
Create your will nowPersonalized · Legally sound · Download instantly