How can a court decide the division of property when a person dies without a will?

When a person dies without a will, they are considered to have died intestate. In this situation, the court does not have discretion to divide property based on personal preference; instead, it appoints an administrator to settle the estate and distributes assets according to specific state or regional laws of intestate succession.1

How Distribution is Determined

Laws of intestacy generally prioritize kinship, with the surviving spouse almost universally granted a share of the estate. The specific division depends on the jurisdiction:2

• Spousal Share: In many systems, such as those influenced by the Uniform Probate Code in the U.S. or laws in New York, the spouse’s portion is determined by whether the decedent is survived by children, parents, or other relatives. For example, if no children or parents survive, the spouse may inherit the entire estate.34
• Order of Kinship: If there is no surviving spouse, or if part of the estate remains after the spouse's share is satisfied, the property passes to relatives based on a hierarchy of classes. These typically include descendants, parents, siblings, and more distant relatives like grandparents or their descendants.53
• Representation: When heirs are of unequal degrees of kinship, laws often use systems like per stirpes to ensure that the descendants of a deceased relative receive the share that their parent would have inherited.354

If no relatives can be found, the state may take possession of the estate.1