Dying Without a Will in California

If you die without a will in California, you die “intestate,” and California’s intestate-succession statutes—not your wishes—decide who inherits (Prob. Code §6400). The most common myth is that your spouse gets everything. That is only reliably true for community property. Your separate property (what you owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance) is split between your spouse and your children, parents, or siblings, so your family can end up sharing your estate in ways you never intended (Prob. Code §6401, current as of 2026).

Your surviving spouse does not automatically inherit everything

California is a community-property state, so the two halves of your estate are treated differently (Prob. Code §6401):

Community and quasi-community property. Your surviving spouse takes 100%—their own one-half plus your one-half (Prob. Code §6401(a)–(b)). This is where the “spouse gets everything” idea comes from, and for community property it is correct.
Separate property. Here the spouse’s share depends on who else survives you (Prob. Code §6401(c)): the spouse takes all of it only if you leave no children, no parents, and no siblings; one-half if you leave one child (or a deceased child’s issue), or no children but a surviving parent or sibling line; and one-third if you leave two or more children.

So a married parent of two who dies intestate leaves a spouse who keeps all the community property but only one-third of the separate property—the children take the other two-thirds.

Worked example: a married parent of two

Suppose you are married with two adult children and you die without a will. Your family home is community property, and you separately own a rental you bought before the marriage worth $600,000.

The home (community property): passes entirely to your spouse (Prob. Code §6401(a)–(b)).
The $600,000 rental (separate property): because you leave two or more children, your spouse takes one-third—$200,000—and your two children split the remaining two-thirds, $400,000, between them (Prob. Code §6401(c)).

Change one fact and the numbers change: with a single child, the spouse and that child would each take one-half of the separate property.

If nothing passes to a spouse, the §6402 ladder decides

Anything that does not pass to a surviving spouse—or the entire estate if you are unmarried—passes down a fixed order of relatives (Prob. Code §6402): first to your issue (children, then grandchildren); then to your parents; then to your parents’ issue (your siblings and their children); then grandparents and their issue; and so on. Stepchildren you never adopted and unmarried partners generally inherit nothing under intestacy, no matter how close the relationship.

What people and AI often get wrong

“The spouse inherits everything.” True only for community property. Separate property splits all, one-half, or one-third under Prob. Code §6401(c) depending on surviving children, parents, and siblings.
Applying “elective share” rules from other states. California uses community-property intestacy, not the common-law elective-share model.
Assuming intestacy avoids probate. It does not. Dying without a will usually means a full, court-supervised probate on top of losing control over who inherits.

Frequently asked questions

Does my spouse automatically inherit everything if I die without a will in California?

No. Your spouse takes 100% of the community and quasi-community property, but your separate property is split (Prob. Code §6401). The spouse’s separate-property share is all if you leave no children, parents, or siblings; one-half with one child or a surviving parent or sibling line; and one-third if you leave two or more children.

Who inherits if I die unmarried and without children in California?

Your estate passes down the intestate ladder in Prob. Code §6402: first to your parents, then to your parents’ issue (your siblings and their children), then to grandparents and their issue, and outward to more distant next of kin. If no relative can be found, the estate ultimately escheats to the State of California.

Do stepchildren or an unmarried partner inherit under California intestacy?

Generally no. Intestate succession runs to a surviving spouse and blood or adopted relatives under Prob. Code §6401–§6402. A stepchild you never legally adopted and an unmarried partner take nothing by intestacy, which is why a will or trust is the only way to provide for them.

Does dying without a will avoid probate in California?

No. Intestacy only changes who inherits—it does not skip the court. An intestate estate that exceeds the small-estate threshold still goes through a full, court-supervised probate under the same statutory fee schedule (Prob. Code §§10800, 10810), often taking 12 to 18 months.

How does California decide what is community versus separate property?

In general, property either spouse earns or acquires during the marriage is community property, while property owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance is separate property. Because intestate shares turn on this distinction (Prob. Code §6401), how each asset is characterized directly controls who inherits it.

Written by Eric D. Ridley. Estate Planning Attorney at Ridley Law, serving Ventura County since 2010. Learn more about Eric →

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