What happens if I die without a will in California?

What the Law Says

California law sets strict rules for who inherits your property when you die without a valid will — known as dying 'intestate.' These rules prioritize family members based on legal relationships and the type of property (community vs. separate).

In California, community property — assets acquired during marriage — generally passes entirely to the surviving spouse, unless the deceased had a will stating otherwise.

Separate property — assets owned before marriage or received as a gift or inheritance — is divided differently. If you’re survived by a spouse and one child, the spouse receives one-half and the child gets the other half. If you have more than one child, the spouse receives one-third and the children split two-thirds.

If there’s no surviving spouse, your children inherit everything equally. If there are no children, the estate goes to your parents, then siblings, grandparents, or more distant relatives — following a precise statutory order.

Estates valued at $184,500 or less (as of 2024) may avoid full probate through simplified procedures like an affidavit or spousal property petition.

Statutory Text

If there is a surviving spouse, the entire estate passes to the surviving spouse if the decedent left no issue, parent, brother, sister, or issue of a brother or sister.

— Probate Code § 6401(a) — Intestate succession: Surviving spouse; community property

Statutory Text

The separate property of a decedent who is survived by a spouse and one child, or by a spouse and one or more issue of a deceased child, is distributed one-half to the spouse and one-half to the child or to the issue of the deceased child.

— Probate Code § 6401(b) — Intestate succession: Surviving spouse; separate property

Statutory Text

The value of the decedent's estate does not exceed $184,500, exclusive of encumbrances...

— Probate Code § 13050(b)(1) — Small estates

Sources