Intestate Succession in California: What Happens If You Die Without a Will?

One of the questions that the experienced estate planning attorneys at Albertson & Davidson, LLP do not ever want to answer for our clients is “What happens if someone dies without a will?” When someone dies without a will and fails to make a plan that states their wishes, the state has a plan for them – one that is usually much different than what they would have wanted.

California’s intestate succession laws determine which relatives stand to inherit the decedent’s property and in what proportion. If you want to make your own plan and not let the state decide what happens to your property, contact Albertson & Davidson, LLP. We provide a free consultation and can do remote consultations via Zoom. Call us at (877) 632-1738 to get started.

What Is Intestate Succession?

Intestate succession is the legal process in which the court distributes assets to heirs when someone dies without a will or their will is declared invalid. The court follows California law and your estate goes through the often time-consuming and expensive process of probate.

What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Los Angeles, CA?

If you don’t have a will when you pass away, the court will distribute your property according to the rules of intestate succession in California. Your assets will go to your closest relatives, as defined by California law, regardless of what your relationship with them was like or what you would have wanted. Your estate goes through probate, which may take several months or years to complete.

Assets Passed by Intestate Succession

Intestate succession only deals with assets that would have passed through the decedent’s will if they had one. Typically, this only includes assets they own alone in their own name. There are many ways that you can organize assets so that they are not subject to probate, but this takes planning.

Assets that Do Not Transfer Through California Intestate Succession

There are many assets that are not subject to California’s intestate succession and probate laws, including:

Property transferred to a trust
Proceeds of life insurance to a beneficiary other than your estate
Property owned with someone else as community property or in joint tenancy with the right of survivorship
Vehicles that have a transfer-on-death registration
Funds in a 401(K), IRA, or other retirement accounts
Bank accounts with a payable-on-death (POD) designation
Securities with a transfer-on-death (TOD) designation

These assets will pass to the co-owner or the beneficiary you named on the account, whichever is applicable, and regardless of whatever your will said.

Who Inherits Property Through Intestate Succession?

Your “heirs at law” as defined by California law will stand to inherit your property through intestate succession. Heirs at law inherit from you in the following order under California’s intestate succession laws:

Your surviving spouse
Your children and grandchildren
Your parents
Your siblings
Your grandparents
Children and grandchildren of your grandparents (your aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews)
More distant relatives

In some cases, if you die with relatives in one category, relatives in the descending categories do not receive anything. For example, if you die with children, your parents would not inherit anything. In other cases, the intestate succession laws allow people in lower categories to inherit some property. For example, if you die with a spouse and parents but no children, your spouse, and parents would each receive one-half of your separate property.

What Does the Spouse Get Under California’s Intestate Succession Laws?

The spouse or registered domestic partner generally inherits all of the community property. Community property is generally any property acquired during the marriage while living in the state, including real and personal property.

Additionally, your surviving spouse inherits all of your separate property if you have no parents, children, or siblings. If you have children (or grandchildren), your spouse will receive between one-third and one-half of your separate property, depending on how many children or grandchildren you have. If you die without children but your parents, siblings, or nieces or nephews survive you, your spouse gets one-half of your separate property.

In California, a separate property typically includes:

Property you owned before the marriage
Property you purchased with property you owned before the marriage
Rent or income from separate property
Gifts and inheritances made to you individually
Any property that is subject to a valid agreement
Property purchased or earned after separation

What Do Children Get Under California’s Intestate Succession Laws?

If you are unmarried when you die, your children will receive all of your property. If you are married, the size of each child’s share of your property will depend on how many children you have.

The law must recognize an heir as your child for them to inherit. A child under California law generally includes:

Biological children
Children born during your marriage
Legally adopted children
Children conceived before your death but born after it
Children born outside your marriage if they can prove you knew of their existence and contributed financially to them
Grandchildren if their parent is deceased

Generally, children who you placed for adoption, step-children, or foster children do not stand to inherit under California’s intestate succession laws.

Will the State Get Your Property?

In most situations, the state will not get your property. The court will try to distribute your property to anyone who is even remotely related to you, including your great aunts or uncles, cousins of any degree, or the relatives of a spouse who predeceased you. However, if you die without a valid will and you do not have any family, your property can be escheat to the state.

Important California Intestate Succession Laws

California’s intestate succession laws can be very complex and can vary greatly from one case to another. Some important guidelines to know that might impact the heir’s right to inherit and to what extent include:

An heir must survive you by 120 hours. California has a 120-hour survivorship period. Therefore, if you and your sibling get in a car accident, you die immediately, and your sibling dies a day later, the law would act as though your sibling pre-deceased you. Your sibling’s estate would not have the right to inherit from you.
Legal separation changes things. If you are legally separated at the time of your death, your surviving spouse does not have the right to inherit your share of the community property.
Heirs receive property per stirpes. If you have an heir who predeceased you but they have surviving children (or grandchildren or so on), their children have the right to inherit the share their parent would have received. For example, if you died leaving behind two surviving children but had a deceased child who died before you who had two of their own children, each of your children would receive an equal share. Your two grandchildren from your deceased child would split their parent’s share.
Half relatives inherit the same as whole. If you have a half-sister or brother, the fact that they have one different parent does not affect their legal right to inherit from you.
Relatives who were conceived before you died can still inherit. Even though the person wasn’t born at the time of your death, a posthumous child can still inherit from you just like a relative who was alive at the time of your death.
Right to inheritance is not affected by immigration status. Your heirs have a right to inherit from you regardless of their citizenship or immigration status.
Advancements can be deducted from your heir’s inheritance. If you gave a gift to a relative during your lifetime, the value of the gift you gave them can be deducted from their inheritance if you provided these instructions in writing or your relative admits, in writing, this was the arrangement.

Contact an Experienced Estate Attorney for More Information

Intestate succession in California can be a confusing process. Complex laws are involved. If you are concerned about what to do when a parent dies without a will or you would like to avoid the default process provided by the intestate succession process, an estate planning, and probate litigation lawyer can help.

Albertson & Davidson, LLP is a trusted estate planning and probate law firm. We have a successful track record of securing favorable outcomes for our clients. We are accessible to our clients with offices throughout California, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Carlsbad, Bay Area, and Irvine. For our clients’ comfort, we offer remote consultations via Zoom. Set yours up by calling (855) 928-0542, contact us today.