Understanding California Inheritance Laws for Families

Most surprises in California inheritance come from two places: community property rules that decide what a person owned in the first place, and intestacy rules that decide who gets it when there’s no plan. Blended families feel both hardest, because a stepchild usually isn’t an heir at all.

Law verified against Probate Code §§66, 100, 101, 3401, 6110, 6111, 6401 to 6454, 10810, 13100 and 13500, and Family Code §§760 and 770, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

How does community property affect inheritance?

Property a married person acquires during the marriage while living in California is community property unless a statute says otherwise (Fam. Code §760). Property owned before marriage, and property received during marriage by gift or inheritance, is separate property (Fam. Code §770(a)). At death, one-half of the community property belongs to the surviving spouse and the other half belongs to the decedent (Prob. Code §100(a)). The decedent’s will or trust controls only the decedent’s half.

Couples who moved here from a non-community-property state have a third category. Quasi-community property is property acquired while living elsewhere that would have been community property if the couple had lived in California at the time (Prob. Code §66). If the decedent was domiciled in California at death, half of it belongs to the surviving spouse (Prob. Code §101(a)). Registered domestic partners are treated the same way under these sections (Prob. Code §§100(a), 101(a)).

The community property glossary entry covers titling and characterization in more depth.

What happens if someone dies without a will?

The Probate Code’s intestate succession rules decide who inherits. For a surviving spouse, the share depends on the type of property:

• Community and quasi-community property. The spouse takes the decedent’s half, so the spouse ends up with all of it (Prob. Code §6401(a), (b)).
• Separate property, no close relatives. The spouse takes everything if the decedent left no children or other issue, no parent, and no sibling or sibling’s issue (Prob. Code §6401(c)(1)).
• Separate property, one child or parents. The spouse takes one-half if the decedent left one child or the issue of one deceased child, or no issue but a parent or a parent’s issue (Prob. Code §6401(c)(2)).
• Separate property, more than one child. The spouse takes one-third if the decedent left more than one child, or one child plus the issue of a deceased child, or issue of two or more deceased children (Prob. Code §6401(c)(3)).

Take a husband who dies with no will, survived by his wife and two adult children. The house was bought during the marriage, and he also owned a rental he inherited from his mother. His wife keeps her half of the house and takes his half (Prob. Code §§100, 6401(a)). The rental is his separate property (Fam. Code §770(a)), so she takes one-third of it and the two children split the other two-thirds (Prob. Code §§6401(c)(3), 6402(a)).

Whatever doesn’t go to a spouse goes to the decedent’s issue first, then to parents, then to the parents’ issue (the decedent’s siblings, nieces, and nephews), then to grandparents or their issue, and further out from there (Prob. Code §6402). If no one qualifies, the property escheats to the state (Prob. Code §6404). An heir has to outlive the decedent by 120 hours to inherit through intestacy (Prob. Code §6403(a)).

What happens if you die without a will and California next of kin laws walk through the order with examples, and the intestate succession glossary entry has the short version.

Who counts as a child?

For intestate succession, a parent-child relationship exists between a person and their natural parents regardless of whether the parents were married, and between an adopted person and the adopting parents (Prob. Code §6450). Half-siblings inherit the same share as full siblings (Prob. Code §6406).

Stepchildren are different. A stepchild inherits from a stepparent through intestacy only if the relationship began while the child was a minor and continued for their joint lifetimes, and there’s clear and convincing evidence the stepparent would have adopted the child but for a legal barrier (Prob. Code §6454). Most stepchildren can’t meet that test. If you want a stepchild to inherit, you have to say so in a will or trust. Do stepchildren inherit in California? goes into the details, and blended family estate planning explains the planning options.

How do wills and trusts change the default rules?

A will replaces the intestacy rules for your half of the community property and your separate property. A formal will has to be in writing, signed, and witnessed by two people present at the same time (Prob. Code §6110). A will whose signature and material provisions are in your own handwriting is valid without witnesses (Prob. Code §6111(a)). A will can also nominate a guardian for minor children, discussed in naming a guardian for your children.

A will doesn’t avoid probate. Unless an exception applies, such as property passing to a surviving spouse (Prob. Code §13500) or an estate under the small estate limit, currently $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025 (Prob. Code §13100), the estate goes through the court. The attorney’s statutory fee for ordinary services is based on the gross value of the estate: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, and 2% of the next $800,000, among other tiers (Prob. Code §10810). The probate fee calculator runs the numbers, and California probate explains the process. The firm’s figure for probate is twelve to eighteen months. The California Courts Self-Help Guide puts it at about nine months to a year and a half.

A funded revocable living trust avoids that for the assets it holds. It’s the main tool I use for families who want their children, or a stepchild, or a new spouse, to receive specific property on specific terms. Key estate documents explained compares the pieces.

What protects a minor child’s inheritance?

Less than most parents assume. A minor can’t be handed a large inheritance. Without a guardian of the estate, a parent can receive property for a minor only when the child’s total estate is $5,000 or less, and the parent has to give a verified written assurance of that (Prob. Code §3401). Above that, the usual paths are a court-supervised guardianship of the estate or a custodianship, and a custodian generally has to turn the property over at 18 unless the transfer was set up to delay it (Prob. Code §3920(a)). A trust for the child avoids both and lets you pick the age and terms. Estate planning for parents covers the options.

Why do blended families need extra care?

A surviving second spouse takes all the community property and a large share of the separate property if there’s no plan (Prob. Code §6401), and when that spouse later dies, the property passes under the second spouse’s plan, not yours. Stepchildren rarely inherit on their own (Prob. Code §6454). The result can leave children from a first marriage with far less than the parent intended. The benefits of estate planning for blended families and the impact of California laws on estate planning go further.

Where do I start?

Start with what you own and how it’s titled, then decide who you want to receive it. I handle planning by phone and Zoom, a mobile notary comes to you to sign, and I record the deed moving your house into the trust. You get a map for re-registering each account. The estate planning page and the living trusts and wills library are good next reads, or start from the home page.