If you die without a will in New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 3B:5-3 decides who inherits your property, and your spouse could inherit everything or as little as a quarter plus half the balance, depending on whose children survive you. This intestate succession process follows state law. See the New Jersey estate planning guide for your options.
A signed will replaces this formula with your own instructions. Here is exactly how New Jersey divides an estate with no will.
Key Takeaways
- N.J.S.A. 3B:5-3 gives your spouse the entire estate only if every surviving child is also your spouse's child, with no other descendants of your spouse from elsewhere.
- If you have children from another relationship, your spouse's guaranteed share is limited to a set percentage within a dollar floor and ceiling, plus half of what remains.
- With no surviving descendants but a surviving parent, your spouse again receives a limited share, with the parent taking the rest.
- With no surviving spouse or children, your estate passes to your parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives.
Who Inherits Your Property in New Jersey Without a Will?
New Jersey's N.J.S.A. 3B:5-3 keys the size of your spouse's share almost entirely on whether your surviving children are also your spouse's children.
If You Have a Spouse and No Children
Your spouse inherits your entire estate if you have no surviving descendants and no surviving parent. If a parent of yours survives, your spouse instead receives the first 25 percent of your estate, no less than $50,000 and no more than $200,000, plus three-fourths of the remaining balance, with your parent taking the rest.
If You Have a Spouse and Children You Share Together
If all of your surviving descendants are also descendants of your spouse, and your spouse has no other surviving descendants, your spouse inherits your entire estate.
If You Have a Spouse and Children From Another Relationship
If one or more of your surviving children is not also your spouse's child, your spouse receives the first 25 percent of your estate, no less than $50,000 and no more than $200,000, plus one-half of the remaining balance. Your children, including those from the earlier relationship, divide what is left by representation.
If You Have Children and No Spouse
Your children inherit your entire estate in equal shares. A deceased child's own children take that child's share by representation.
If You Have No Spouse and No Children
Your parents inherit your entire estate. If neither parent survives, it passes to your siblings in equal shares, then to more distant relatives such as nieces, nephews, and beyond if no siblings survive.
What Assets Skip New Jersey Intestacy Entirely?
Not everything you own runs through New Jersey's intestacy formula. Retirement accounts and life insurance policies with a named, living beneficiary pass directly to that person, regardless of what the intestacy statute says. Property you own jointly with a right of survivorship, and bank or brokerage accounts set up as payable-on-death or transfer-on-death, work the same way, passing straight to the surviving co-owner or named beneficiary outside of probate.
This matters because it means intestacy usually only decides what happens to the assets you never got around to titling or designating a beneficiary for, most often a primary residence, a car, or a checking account still in your name alone. For a lot of families, that leftover category still includes the family home, which is exactly why the distribution rules above matter as much as they do.
Worth checking now, before any of this becomes relevant: whether every account you hold actually lists a current beneficiary, and whether an old designation from a divorce or a relationship that ended years ago is still on file with the bank or insurance company. That single detail can override even a carefully written New Jersey will, since a designated beneficiary is paid directly and never passes through the will at all.
What Does Dying Without a Will Actually Cost Your Family in New Jersey?
The 25 percent floor-and-ceiling formula sounds specific, but it still requires the New Jersey surrogate's court to value the estate and confirm which children count as your spouse's descendants, which is exactly the kind of question that turns into a dispute among grieving family members. See how long New Jersey probate takes for the realistic timeline that follows.
For blended families, the gap between inheriting everything and inheriting a capped 25 percent plus half the balance often comes down to a single fact pattern, whether one child from an earlier relationship survives you, that most people would rather decide for themselves.
How to Make Sure Your Wishes Control What Happens
A signed New Jersey will replaces this entire formula with your own choices for your spouse and children. See write a valid will in New Jersey for New Jersey's execution requirements, and common New Jersey will mistakes for the errors that most often get a homemade will contested.
Our guide on 5 reasons not to die without a will covers the wider risks of leaving your estate to intestacy.
FastWill's will package helps you put a valid New Jersey will in place naming your own beneficiaries, instead of relying on a fixed statutory formula.
Preguntas frecuentes
Does my spouse automatically inherit everything in New Jersey if I die without a will?
Only if every surviving child is also your spouse's child and your spouse has no other descendants, or if you have no surviving descendants or parents at all. Otherwise your spouse's share is capped under the 25 percent formula.
What happens to my house if I die without a will in New Jersey?
Your house is part of your net estate and divided under the same formula as the rest of your property, based on whether your children are also your spouse's children.
Do stepchildren inherit under New Jersey intestacy law?
No, unless you legally adopted them. Only biological and legally adopted children count as your descendants.
Can an unmarried partner inherit in New Jersey without a will?
No. New Jersey intestacy law does not recognize unmarried partners. A will or beneficiary designation is the only way to provide for a partner you are not legally married to.
How do I avoid New Jersey's intestacy rules?
Sign a valid New Jersey will or fund a living trust naming your own beneficiaries, so your choices, not the statutory formula, control your estate.
