If you die without a will in Alabama, the Alabama Probate Code decides who inherits using a formula based on fixed dollar amounts plus a fraction of the balance, splitting your estate between your spouse and other relatives depending on who survives you. Your family's preferences carry no legal weight once intestacy applies.
Key Takeaways
- Alabama's spousal share depends on whether parents or children survive alongside your spouse, using fixed dollar allowances of either 50,000 or 100,000 dollars.
- If you have children from another relationship, your spouse's share is reduced compared to a marriage where all children are shared.
- Unmarried partners and unadopted stepchildren inherit nothing automatically under Alabama intestacy.
- An intestate estate still requires probate through the Alabama probate court, the same as an estate with a will.
Who inherits if you die without a will in Alabama?
Alabama's spousal share is set out in Code of Alabama section 43-8-41, and the share passing to other heirs is set out in section 43-8-42.
Spouse only, no surviving issue or parent
Your spouse inherits the entire intestate estate if you leave no surviving children and no surviving parent.
Spouse and parents, no children
If you have no surviving children but a parent or parents survive you, your spouse receives the first 100,000 dollars of the estate plus one-half of the remaining balance, with the rest passing to your parents.
Spouse and shared children
If your surviving children were all born to your surviving spouse, your spouse receives the first 50,000 dollars of the estate plus one-half of the balance, with the children dividing the remainder under section 43-8-42.
Spouse and children from another relationship
Alabama law does not carve out a separate lower share specifically for children from another relationship the way some states do, but any surviving child who is not also the spouse's child still shares in the portion passing under section 43-8-42, which can meaningfully reduce what a blended family's spouse ultimately keeps compared to a scenario with only shared children.
Children only, or no spouse and no children
If there is no surviving spouse, your children inherit the entire estate. If there is no spouse and no children, the estate passes to your parents equally, then to siblings or their descendants, then to grandparents or their descendants, following the order in section 43-8-42.
How long do heirs have to wait to access the estate?
Alabama probate does not resolve overnight even in a straightforward intestate case. The personal representative first has to be appointed by the probate court, then complete an inventory, then handle any creditor claims, before any final distribution can happen. Families dealing with an intestate estate should expect several months at minimum before assets are actually available, and considerably longer if real estate needs to be sold or any heir disputes the process.
Does intestacy avoid Alabama probate?
No. An intestate estate still has to go through the Alabama probate court, the same process required for an estate with a will, except the court applies the statutory shares above rather than any instructions from you. This commonly adds months to the time your family spends waiting to access the estate.
What is excluded from Alabama intestacy?
An unmarried partner has no automatic inheritance right under Alabama law, no matter how long the relationship lasted. The same is true for stepchildren who were never legally adopted, foster children, and close friends, all of whom fall outside the statutory scheme entirely.
How do the 50,000 and 100,000 dollar allowances compare?
The size of the spouse's allowance depends entirely on whether children or parents are the other surviving relatives. A spouse sharing the estate with children gets the smaller 50,000 dollar floor plus half the remainder, while a spouse sharing the estate with parents but no children gets the larger 100,000 dollar floor plus half the remainder. In a modest estate, this difference can mean the spouse ends up with a meaningfully different share depending purely on whether the decedent had children, not on the total size of the estate itself.
As with other fixed-dollar formulas, the practical impact of these allowances shrinks as the estate grows larger, since 50,000 or 100,000 dollars becomes a smaller fraction of a bigger total.
What about jointly titled property and beneficiary designations?
Property titled jointly with survivorship rights, along with retirement accounts and life insurance policies naming a beneficiary, pass directly to the survivor or named beneficiary outside the probate estate and outside this intestacy formula entirely. For many Alabama families, these non-probate assets make up a larger share of total wealth than what actually gets divided under sections 43-8-41 and 43-8-42.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to a house if you die without a will in Alabama?
The house is distributed under the same spousal share formula as other assets, but the transfer cannot be finalized until the estate clears probate.
Do unmarried partners inherit under Alabama intestacy?
No, only a legal spouse and blood or adopted relatives have inheritance rights under the Alabama Probate Code.
Who administers an Alabama estate with no will?
The probate court appoints a personal representative, usually giving priority to the surviving spouse, then adult children, then other close relatives.
Does having a will avoid probate in Alabama?
No, a will still goes through probate. Only assets in a properly funded living trust, or with valid beneficiary designations, bypass the process.
What happens if no heirs can be found in Alabama?
If a diligent search turns up no eligible relatives, the estate escheats to the State of Alabama.
If you would rather set your own terms than rely on the 50,000 or 100,000 dollar formula, a valid Alabama will naming your own beneficiaries and executor is the fix. Read more on the broader consequences of dying without a will, review the Alabama estate planning overview, check how long Alabama probate takes, and see the how to make a will in Alabama guide and common will mistakes before assuming your family has time to figure this out. FastWill's will package lets you decide who inherits instead of the statutory default.
