If I'm married and die without a will in California, does my spouse get everything?

Not necessarily. Your surviving spouse keeps all of the community property (their half plus your half under Probate Code 6401(a)). But separate property is split: with one child the spouse takes half, and with two or more children the spouse takes one third while the children share the rest. So a spouse may not inherit everything.

What is the difference between community and separate property for intestacy?

Community property is generally what you and your spouse acquired during marriage through either spouse's earnings. Separate property is generally what you owned before marriage, plus gifts and inheritances received during marriage. On intestacy the spouse inherits all community property but shares separate property with children or parents depending on who survives.

Who inherits if I die in California with no spouse and no children?

Probate Code 6402 follows a fixed order: first your parents, then your siblings and their children if no parents survive, then grandparents or their issue (aunts, uncles, cousins), and so on. Only if no living relative can be found does the estate pass to the State of California.

Are registered domestic partners treated like spouses under California intestacy?

Yes. A surviving registered domestic partner inherits under the same rules that apply to a surviving spouse, including taking all community property and a share of separate property. A licensed California attorney can confirm how this applies to your specific situation.

Can my family avoid full probate if I die intestate in California?

Possibly. California offers simplified procedures below certain limits. For deaths on or after 1 April 2025 the small estate affidavit threshold is $208,850, rising to $239,700 for deaths on or after 1 April 2026, with a separate $750,000 threshold for a petition involving a primary residence. A surviving spouse may also use a spousal property petition under Probate Code 13500. These figures change, so verify them with a California attorney.

Do all my assets pass according to intestate succession?

No. Intestacy only governs probate assets. Living trusts, joint tenancy property, pay-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, and assets with named beneficiaries (like life insurance and retirement accounts) pass directly to the co-owner or beneficiary, outside intestate succession, whether or not you have a will.

Dying Without a Will in California

How California's intestate succession laws decide who inherits your community and separate property, and the probate steps your family will face if you leave no will.

Reviewed: 29 June 2026 · General information, not legal advice

This article is general information, not legal advice. California intestacy and probate law is detailed and fact-specific, and the rules and dollar thresholds described here change over time. For guidance on your own estate, consult a licensed California attorney.

When someone dies in California without a valid will, they die "intestate." Instead of your wishes controlling who gets what, a fixed set of statutes does: the California Probate Code, sections 6400 through 6414. The state effectively writes a default will for you, and it may not match what you would have chosen. The *Los Angeles Times* and personal-finance outlets like *Kiplinger* have repeatedly noted that a majority of American adults have no will at all, which means these default rules decide far more estates than most people assume.

What "intestate" actually means in California

Dying intestate does not mean your property goes to the state. Escheat (property passing to California itself) only happens in the rare case where no living relative can be found at all. In nearly every real situation, the Probate Code directs your assets to a defined list of relatives in a fixed order. The catch is that the order is rigid. It cannot account for a partner you never married, a stepchild you raised, a close friend, or a charity you cared about. None of them inherit under intestacy unless the law specifically names them.

California is also one of nine community property states, and that single fact changes almost everything about how an intestate estate is divided.

Community property versus separate property

Before California can decide who inherits, it has to classify what you owned.

Community property is generally what you and your spouse acquired during the marriage through the efforts of either spouse: wages, and most things bought with them.
Separate property is generally what you owned before marriage, plus anything you received during marriage by gift or inheritance, and certain property kept separate.

This classification matters because intestate succession treats the two very differently.

Community property: the surviving spouse keeps everything

Under Probate Code section 6401(a), the surviving spouse already owns one half of the community property. On intestacy, the spouse also inherits the deceased spouse's one-half share of the community property. Add those together and the result is simple: the surviving spouse ends up with all of the community property. Children, parents and other relatives receive none of it.

Registered domestic partners are treated the same as spouses for these purposes, so a surviving registered domestic partner inherits community property in exactly the same way.

Separate property: the split depends on who survives

Separate property is where children and other relatives can inherit alongside a spouse. Under Probate Code section 6401(c), the surviving spouse's share of separate property is:

The entire separate estate if the deceased left no surviving children (or other issue), no parents, and no siblings or their issue.
One half if the deceased left only one child (or the issue of one deceased child), or no children but a surviving parent or parents (or their issue). The other half passes to that child or those parents.
One third if the deceased left more than one child, or one child plus the issue of a deceased child, or issue of two or more deceased children. The remaining two thirds is divided among the children and grandchildren.

So a married Californian with two children who dies intestate does not leave "everything to the spouse." The spouse keeps all the community property, but only one third of the separate property; the children share the other two thirds.

When there is no surviving spouse

If there is no surviving spouse or domestic partner, Probate Code section 6402 sends the entire estate down a chain, stopping at the first level with a living taker:

Children (and the issue of any deceased child), in equal shares.
If no issue, to the parents.
If no parents, to the issue of the parents (the deceased's siblings, and their children).
If none, to grandparents or their issue (aunts, uncles, cousins).
The chain continues to issue of a predeceased spouse, then next of kin, and finally, only if no relative exists, to the State of California.

This is why intestacy can produce surprising results. An unmarried person with no children whose parents have died may have their estate split among siblings or even cousins they were not close to, while a devoted long-term partner inherits nothing.

The probate process your family inherits

Intestacy does not avoid probate. In most cases it guarantees it. Without a will naming an executor, the court appoints an administrator, usually a close relative, who must be granted "letters of administration" before they can act. *San Francisco Chronicle* and *Sacramento Bee* coverage of estate matters routinely describes formal California probate as a process that can run many months and consume meaningful fees, since statutory attorney and executor compensation is set as a percentage of the gross estate value.

California does provide simplified paths for smaller estates, and the dollar limits are adjusted for inflation every three years.

Small estate affidavit (collection of personal property). Successors can collect personal property without formal probate when the qualifying estate is at or below the threshold. For deaths on or after 1 April 2025 the limit is $208,850; for deaths on or after 1 April 2026 it rises to $239,700 (the prior figure was $184,500). A mandatory 40-day waiting period applies before the affidavit can be presented.
Petition to determine succession to a primary residence. A separate, higher threshold of $750,000 applies to a streamlined petition for a decedent's primary home, reflecting California property values.
Spousal property petition. Under Probate Code section 13500, a surviving spouse or domestic partner can confirm that community property and qualifying separate property passes to them through a shorter court petition, rather than full administration.

These figures change, so confirm the current numbers with a California attorney or the California Courts self-help resources before relying on them.

Assets that pass outside intestacy entirely

Intestate succession only governs assets that would otherwise go through probate. Many assets bypass it completely, regardless of whether you have a will:

Property held in a living trust.
Real estate or accounts held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship.
Pay-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) bank and brokerage accounts.
Beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement accounts and similar plans.

These transfer directly to the named co-owner or beneficiary. That is also why an outdated beneficiary form can quietly override what you assumed your family would receive.

The part no statute can divide

The Probate Code can route your house, your accounts and your investments, but it has nothing to say about the things families say they miss most: how you spoke, the stories only you knew, the reasoning behind the choices you made. Those are not in any estate inventory, and intestacy distributes none of them.

That is the gap Afterlife AI™ is built to address. While you are alive, you build a Persona from your memories and the way you actually talk, and an Executor Lock™ lets you set, in advance, who can access it and on what terms after you are gone. For people who choose to, consent-based voice preservation lets your family hear your own voice again, recorded and governed with your explicit permission while you were living. It is not a legal instrument and it does not replace a will, a trust or a conversation with a California attorney. Think of it as preserving the personal legacy that paperwork was never designed to hold, while you handle the legal side properly.

Frequently asked questions

This article is general information, not legal advice. California law is fact-specific and changes over time. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed California attorney.

Sources

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