When a person dies without a valid will, his or her estate passes to heirs or certain classes of family members by intestate succession, as prescribed in individual state laws. The purpose of intestate succession statutes is to distribute the decedent's property in an organized and methodical way. States have their own laws that determine how the property will be distributed.Property that you own alone in your name that would have passed through a will affects intestate succession.

Who Gets the Property by Intestate Succession?

In most contemporary common-law jurisdictions, the law of intestacy is patterned after the common law of descent. Property goes first or in major part to a spouse, then to children and their descendants; if there are no descendants, the line of inheritance goes back up the family tree to the parents, the siblings, the siblings' descendants, the grandparents, the parents' siblings, and the parents' siblings' descendants, and usually so on further to the more remote degrees of kinship. The operation of these laws varies from one jurisdiction to another.

If there are no children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren then the spouse or civil partner inherits the entire estate.

If there are children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, the spouse receives the personal possessions,then half of everything else passing under the intestacy rules. The other half passes to the children equally at 18, with provision for grandchildren whose parents have died before the intestate deceased.

All property passing to them by survivorship (such as the deceased's share in the jointly owned family home

Descendants of decedent's parents siblings, nieces, and nephews

If none of the individuals above exist, the property may escheat to the state.

Issues may arise in family law where there is a question as to the laws of the jurisdiction that apply to the marriage relationship or to custody and divorce, and whether a divorce or child custody order is recognized under the laws of another jurisdiction.