Posted on: June 28th, 2016
If you pass away without a will in California, the State has a plan for you … it’s called “intestate succession.” Under intestate succession, your assets will go to your nearest relatives – something you may or may not have wanted. Additionally, if you die without a will, a formal probate process may be necessary; which could be time consuming (9-12 months) and costly to your heirs. It’s not uncommon for an estate with a gross value of $300,000 (home, savings, and a car) to incur legal and probate fees of $9,000 to $12,000.
Here is a quick summary of how your property is distributed under intestate succession:
- If you die with children but no spouse, parents or siblings –> your children inherit everything
- If you die with a spouse but no children, parents or siblings –> your spouse inherits everything
- If you die with parents but no children, spouse or siblings –> your parents inherit everything
- If you die with siblings but no children, spouse or parents –> your siblings inherit everything
- If you die with a spouse and children –> your spouse inherits all of your community property and 1/2 or 1/3 of your separate property, your children inherit 1/2 or 2/3 of your separate property (depends on the number of children)
- If you die with a spouse and parents (no children) –> your spouse inherits all of your community property and 1/2 of your separate property, your parents inherit 1/2 of your separate property
- If you die with a spouse and siblings (no parents) –> your spouse inherits all of your community property and ½ of your separate property, your siblings inherit ½ of your separate property
If you want to avoid the State of California determining who gets your property, you should consider a will-based or a trust-based estate plan. Both allow you to determine who gets what and in the case of a living trust, you can avoid the probate process.
