If you die without a will in California, state intestacy law decides who inherits, not your family's wishes. Your spouse automatically receives all community property, but separate property is split between your spouse and children, parents, or siblings under a fixed formula in the California Probate Code, regardless of what you would have wanted.
Key Takeaways
- California is a community property state, so your spouse keeps all community property outright with no will needed.
- Separate property is split between your spouse and other relatives based on how many children or parents survive you.
- Unmarried partners, close friends, and stepchildren you never legally adopted inherit nothing under intestacy.
- Dying intestate still requires probate court to formally distribute the estate, which adds time and cost your family has to absorb.
Who inherits if you die without a will in California?
California's intestacy rules under the Probate Code split your estate differently depending on whether property is community or separate, and depending on who survives you.
Spouse only, no children or parents
Your spouse inherits all community property and the entire separate property estate under California Probate Code section 6401, since there is no surviving issue, parent, or sibling to share it with.
Spouse and shared children
Your spouse keeps all community property. On separate property, if you leave one child (or the issue of one deceased child), the spouse takes one-half and the child takes the rest; with two or more children, the spouse's separate property share drops to one-third under section 6401, with the remainder divided among the children per section 6402.
Spouse and children from another relationship
The formula does not change based on whether the children are also the spouse's children. Community property still goes entirely to the spouse, and separate property is still split under the same one-half or one-third rules based on the number of children, which can surprise blended families expecting a different result.
Children only, no spouse
If there is no surviving spouse, your children inherit the entire estate in equal shares under section 6402, with a deceased child's share passing to that child's own children by representation.
No spouse, no children
The estate passes to your parents, then to siblings, then to more distant relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in the order set out in section 6402, and if no relatives can be located, the estate escheats to the State of California.
What does not change under intestacy in California?
Intestate succession only recognizes legal relationships. An unmarried partner, no matter how long the relationship, inherits nothing automatically. Stepchildren who were never legally adopted are treated the same way. Foster children and close friends are also excluded entirely, regardless of how involved they were in your life.
Does dying without a will avoid probate in California?
No. An intestate estate still goes through California probate court, the same as an estate with a will, except the court applies the statutory formula above instead of your own instructions. Probate in California commonly takes many months to over a year, and the court, not your family, decides who administers the estate if you never named an executor.
Why does community property change the outcome so much?
Most other states split a spouse's inheritance as a single fraction of everything you own. California instead separates your property into two buckets before applying any formula. Community property, generally anything earned or acquired during the marriage, passes entirely to the surviving spouse regardless of how many children survive. Separate property, generally anything owned before the marriage or received individually by gift or inheritance, is the only bucket subject to the one-half or one-third split described above.
This distinction means two California families with identical total net worth can see very different outcomes depending on how their assets happen to be titled and when they were acquired, which is one more reason a formula written by the legislature rarely matches what an individual family would actually choose.
What about retirement accounts and life insurance?
Assets with a named beneficiary, such as a 401(k), IRA, or life insurance policy, generally pass directly to whoever is named on the account, bypassing both the will and the intestacy formula entirely. This is true whether or not you have a will, which is why keeping beneficiary designations current matters just as much as writing a will in the first place. An outdated beneficiary designation can override even a carefully drafted estate plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to a house if you die without a will in California?
The house is distributed according to the same community or separate property intestacy rules as other assets, but it must go through probate first, which can delay a sale or transfer for many months.
Do unmarried partners inherit anything under California intestacy?
No, California intestate succession only recognizes legal spouses and blood or adopted relatives, so an unmarried partner has no automatic inheritance right.
Can a will avoid probate in California?
No, a will does not avoid probate by itself. Only assets held in a funded living trust, or with valid beneficiary designations, bypass probate entirely.
Who becomes administrator if there is no will in California?
The probate court appoints an administrator, usually giving priority to the surviving spouse, then adult children, then other close relatives.
What happens if no relatives can be found in California?
If a diligent search turns up no heirs, the estate escheats, meaning it passes to the State of California.
If you do not want a courtroom formula deciding who gets your house, your accounts, or your business, the fix is a legally valid California will that names your own beneficiaries and executor. It is worth also reading about the broader consequences of dying without a will, reviewing the California estate planning overview, checking how long California probate takes, and comparing how to make a DIY will in California against the common will mistakes that can undo one anyway, so you know what your family would be facing. FastWill's will package lets you name your own heirs and executor instead of leaving it to the Probate Code.
