Who inherits without a will in Iceland?

The spouse and the children inherit shares together

In Iceland the spouse first keeps half of the joint estate, then takes a third of the other half, and the children share the rest.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

The default, not your case. This page describes what applies when there is no valid will. Succession law is reformed often, a will changes everything, and the rules for an estate with a foreign element are complex. This is general information, not legal advice.

A spouse and children survive

The spouse first owns half of the joint marital estate. Of the other half, which belonged to the deceased, the spouse takes one third and the children take two thirds, shared equally.

A spouse survives, but no children

With no children, the spouse takes the whole estate.

No spouse: who comes next

Children first; then the parents and their descendants (the siblings); then the grandparents and their descendants. If there is no heir, the estate goes to the Treasury.

A partner who is not married

A cohabiting partner has no right to inherit by law and inherits only if there is a will.

What a will cannot take away

Children have a forced share that a will cannot take away. The details are in the Inheritance Act.

If the person or the property is abroad

Iceland is not in the EU and does not take part in the EU Succession Regulation.

Understand the legal system first

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

Official sources

Island.is: how the inheritance is divided between the surviving spouse and other heirs

TheLawToKnow Tools’s inheritance guide is an educational overview of general rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the official source or a lawyer in the country. Report a mistake.