**Intestate succession** (noun) — The statutory scheme that determines how a deceased person's estate is distributed when they die without a valid will (intestate). Also called the laws of intestacy or rules of intestate distribution. These rules establish a hierarchy of relatives entitled to inherit, the order of priority among them, and the proportions in which the estate is divided.
Intestate succession is the set of rules that decide who gets what when someone dies without a will.
Every jurisdiction has laws that act as a default will for people who don't make their own. These laws create a hierarchy: your spouse or registered partner usually comes first, then your children, then your parents, then your siblings, and so on through increasingly distant relatives. If you have no living relatives at all, your estate eventually goes to the government—a situation called escheat.
The specific rules vary significantly by location. In some places, a surviving spouse gets everything if there are no children. In others, the spouse shares with the children. The shares allocated to different family members, the treatment of step-children, and the definition of who counts as a spouse or partner all depend on local law.
Intestate succession rules try to reflect what most people would want if they'd made a will. But they're based on generalizations about family relationships and can't account for individual circumstances. They don't consider who needs the money most, who you were closest to, or who helped care for you. They just follow the formula.
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Understanding intestate succession is important whether you've made a will or not.
If you haven't made a will, intestate succession determines what happens to your estate. Knowing the rules for your jurisdiction helps you understand whether the default outcome matches your wishes—and if it doesn't, gives you a reason to make a will.
Common situations where intestate succession doesn't achieve what people want include unmarried couples (where the surviving partner might get nothing), blended families (where step-children typically aren't included), charitable intentions (the law doesn't leave anything to charities), and complex family dynamics (like wanting to benefit one child more than another, or excluding someone you're estranged from).
Even if you have a will, intestate succession can matter. If your will fails to dispose of some property—perhaps you acquired assets after making the will, or a beneficiary died before you and you didn't name an alternative—that property passes under the intestacy rules. This is called partial intestacy.
Intestate succession also determines who has priority to apply for letters of administration when someone dies without appointing an executor. Generally, the people entitled to the largest share of the estate have first priority to be appointed as administrator.
The best way to ensure intestate succession doesn't control your estate is to make a comprehensive will that accounts for all your property and includes backup beneficiaries in case your first choices predecease you.
**Related terms:** [Intestacy](/dictionary/intestacy), [Intestate](/dictionary/intestate), [Heir](/dictionary/heir), [Letters of administration](/dictionary/letters-of-administration)
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