If you live in California and die without a will, the law decides what happens to everything you own in your name—including your home, bank accounts, stocks, and personal belongings.

This process is called intestate succession and it follows strict legal rules that might not align with what you would have wanted. In this post, we’ll break down:

1. 1. What happens to your assets if you die without a will
   2. Who gets what under California’s intestacy laws
   3. What happens if you have minor children
   4. How the probate process works
   5. Why having a will (or a trust) is the best way to protect your loved ones

What Does Intestate Succession Mean?

Intestate Succession simply means when people die without a will. In that case, California’s intestacy laws determine how the estate is divided.

What Is Your Estate?

Your estate includes everything you own at the time of death, such as:

• • Your home and other real estate properties
  • Bank accounts
  • Stocks and investments
  • Business ownership interests
  • Cars, jewelry, and other valuables

However, some assets do not go through intestacy laws as long as they have a named beneficiary who will inherit the assets. These include:

• • Life insurance policies (if they list a specific beneficiary)
  • Retirement accounts (like 401(k)s or IRAs with named beneficiaries)
  • Jointly owned property (such as a house owned as joint tenancy or community property)
  • Transfer on death and Pay-on-death bank accounts

Everything asset in your name alone or without a beneficiary designation will be distributed according to California’s intestacy laws.

Who Gets Your Assets If You Die Without a Will?

California law follows a specific order for distributing your estate. Your relatives are ranked in priority, and if you have no living relatives, your assets go to the state. Let’s go through what happens in different scenarios based on your family situation.

Scenario 1: You’re Married

If you’re legally married and die without a will, your spouse will inherit part or all of your estate, depending on whether you have children, parents, or siblings.

Important: In California, there’s a distinction between community property and separate property, which affects what your spouse receives.

• • Community Property: is anything acquired during the marriage. This goes entirely to your spouse.
  • Separate Property:  is anything you owned before marriage or received as gifts. This is split between spouse and other relatives.

Scenario 2: You Have Children but No Spouse

Your children inherit everything. If you have multiple children, your assets are divided equally among them. If a child has passed away, their share goes to their own children (your grandchildren).

Scenario 3: You’re Not Married and Have No Children

If you die single and childless, your estate is distributed based on the intestate chart in the following order:

1. Your parents – If they are alive, they inherit everything.
2. Your siblings – If your parents have passed, your siblings inherit equally.
3. Your nieces and nephews – If your siblings have passed, their children inherit.
4. Your grandparents – If no immediate family remains, assets go to your grandparents.
5. Your aunts, uncles, and cousins – If grandparents are gone, the estate goes to extended family.
6. The State of California – If no relatives exist, your assets go to California to be held by the State Controller’s office. (p.s. you can find unclaimed property here.)

What Happens If You Have Minor Children?

One of the biggest risks of dying without a will is leaving behind minor children (under 18 years old).

Who Becomes Your Children’s Guardian?

If the other parent is alive and has parental rights, they automatically take full custody.

But if both parents are deceased (or unfit), the court will choose a legal guardian—which may not be who you would have wanted. Family members can apply for guardianship, but if there is a dispute, the decision is left to a judge.

• 💡 Solution: Having a will allows you to name guardians to raise your children in the event of your passing. The court will take the parent’s choice into account.

How Does the Probate Process Work?

Dying without a will means your estate will likely go through probate, a court-supervised process to:

1. Identify and value your assets
2. Pay off any debts and taxes
3. Distribute any remaining assets to your heirs

How Long Does Probate Take?

The length of probate can be impacted by the size of the estate:

• • Large estates (above $184,500 in 2024) → Probate can take 9–18 months (or longer if there are disputes).

• • Small estates (under $184,500 in 2024) → Can qualify for a faster process.

How Much Does Probate Cost?

California’s probate fees are based on your estate’s value. We have created a probate calculator which you can use to calculate the cost.

These statutory fees are set by Probate Code 10810 and follow a tiered percentage structure:

• • 4% of the first $100,000
  • 3% of the next $100,000
  • 2% of the next $800,000
  • 1% of the next $9 million
  • 0.5% of the next $15 million
  • A reasonable amount for estates over $25 million, determined by the court

•  
•  
•  
• Take for example a $1 million estate. The estate could lose $46,000 to legal fees and court costs because:

• • 4% of $100,000 = $4,000
  • 3% of $100,000 = $3,000
  • 2% of $800,000 = $16,000

• Since both the attorney and executor receive the same fee, the total statutory probate cost is: Total: $23,000 × 2 = $46,000.

• 💡 Solution: Creating a living trust that can help you and your family avoid probate altogether, ensuring a faster and smoother transfer of assets.

Key Takeaways

1. 1. Dying without a will means California law decides who gets your assets—not you.
   2. Your spouse, children, parents, and siblings inherit based on a strict order.
   3. If no relatives exist, the state takes your estate.
   4. Probate can be costly and time-consuming—costing your family a significant amount and taking months or years.
   5. Without a will or an estate plan, you can’t name a guardian for your children.
   6. A living trust helps you avoid probate and control your family’s future

Now is the time to take action on your estate plan. A simple estate plan can:

• • Protect your wealth 💰
  • Protect your health ❤️
  • Protect your legacy 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

So you can fully live.