Who inherits without a will in the United States?

Fifty states, fifty rules. Typically the spouse takes the whole estate when all the children are also the spouse's, and a fixed share, often around a half, when some of the children are from another relationship. In community property states the spouse already owns half of the community property.

In nearly every state a spouse with no children to share with takes the whole estate or the greater part, with the parents or siblings sometimes taking a share.

Children share equally, with a dead child's children taking their place. If there are none, the parents, then the siblings, then the grandparents and their descendants, then more remote kin. If none, the estate 'escheats' to the state.

An unmarried partner generally has no right to inherit without a will. A few states recognise domestic partners and treat them as spouses.

Nearly every state lets a surviving spouse claim an 'elective share' against a will, a fixed fraction of the estate. Children can generally be disinherited by a will, except in Louisiana, which has forced heirship for young or disabled children.

The law of the state where land lies governs the land, and the law of the person's last domicile generally governs the rest of the property. Estates with property in several states can need several proceedings.

• The Uniform Probate Code, adopted in about a third of the states, is a model for the rules above, but states differ in the fractions, the order of relatives and the elective share.

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

• Uniform Law Commission: the Uniform Probate Code