Who inherits without a will in Estonia?

The spouse inherits an amount equal to a child's share, but never less than one quarter of the estate.

With the parents and their descendants the spouse takes half the estate. If there are no descendants or parents, the spouse takes everything.

Descendants first, then the parents and their descendants, then the grandparents and their descendants. If nobody inherits, the local government of the place where the estate opened inherits (or the Republic of Estonia, if the person lived abroad).

The official fact sheet does not describe rights for unmarried or registered partners. Treat an unmarried partner as having no automatic right and take advice.

A descendant, parent or spouse who receives less than their intestate share can claim a money payment of half of that share. A surviving spouse may also claim the right to use the home if their standard of living would otherwise fall.

In this EU country the Succession Regulation applies to people who die after 16 August 2015: the whole estate is generally governed by the law of the country where the person had their habitual residence at death, unless they chose the law of their nationality in a will. A foreigner living here, or a citizen living abroad, can therefore be governed by a different law than the one described on this page.

Estonia belongs to the Civil law family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.

Read the Estonia legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Estonia? →

• European e-Justice Portal: succession in Estonia