Who inherits without a will in New Zealand?

The spouse, civil-union partner or de facto partner takes the personal belongings, a fixed sum set by regulation, and one third of the remaining estate. The children share the other two thirds equally.

With no children, the partner takes a larger share. Where there are parents or siblings the partner takes the belongings, a fixed sum and most of the rest; with none of them, the partner takes everything.

Children first; then the parents; then the siblings; then the grandparents; then uncles and aunts. If there is no heir, the estate goes to the Crown.

Civil-union partners and de facto partners are treated like spouses.

There is no forced share, but a spouse, partner or child who is left out of a will can apply to the court under the Family Protection Act 1955.

The country has its own rules on which law governs an estate. An estate with a foreign element needs advice in each country involved.

• The Law Commission has proposed replacing the fixed sum with a share of the estate. That reform had not been enacted at the time of writing.

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

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

• Community Law: distributing the property
• New Zealand Legislation