Generally, California’s intestate succession laws will give a deceased person’s closest family members their inheritance. It includes surviving spouses, children, and siblings. Children have both biological and adopted children as well as grandchildren.
The deceased’s parents and siblings are next in line if there is no surviving spouse or children.
Community Property
When a person dies in California, their estate enters the state’s intestate succession process. These laws are designed to adjudicate how inheritances are distributed when a deceased person leaves no Will or Estate Plan. While these laws remove the human and sometimes contrived element of family politics and dynamics, they can often have blind spots.
One example of a blind spot occurs when it comes to community property. When a couple acquires assets during marriage through earnings or inheritance, those assets become community property. However, there are times when a spouse may want to keep some of their separate property, and they can do so by signing a deed changing the properties’ characterization. In this way, they can ensure their particular property goes to them at death.
During intestate succession, all community property will pass to the surviving spouse, barring the presence of children. The spouse will also inherit one-third of the separate property. The rest of the respective property will be split among the children.
Surviving parents, siblings, and children are entitled to a solid portion of the deceased’s separate property. If there are no surviving spouses, children, or parents, the siblings will receive the deceased’s share of the community property. Inheritance rights are given based on familial relationships. For example, an unmarried adult child who is not a sibling or parent is still eligible to inherit under California’s intestate succession laws.
Spouse
Intestate succession law in California addresses community and separate property differently. Any assets the decedent acquired during the marriage are given to the surviving spouse equally if there is no will. However, if the decedent owned separate property before the wedding (or sometimes even after), that property is passed to other living relatives, including half-siblings.
If there are no surviving spouses or children, the following line of inheritance includes the deceased person’s parents. If there are no surviving parents, the dead person’s siblings may inherit, depending on their relationship to the decedent and how many live siblings the decedent has. If the deceased person has no siblings or their parents and any siblings predeceased them, the estate escheats to the State of California.
Assets that pass through intestate succession in the event there is no will include actual property deeds, vehicle titles, life insurance policies with a designated beneficiary, living trusts, retirement accounts, and bank accounts. The process does not apply to portions of an estate where a named beneficiary has already been identified on an affidavit. An estate plan can prevent these issues, and an experienced attorney can help. An attorney can also help create trusts and other planning tools to reduce the need for probate after death.
Separate Property
When a person dies, the state determines who inherits their assets if they do not leave a last will and trust. This process is called intestate succession. In California, the surviving spouse receives the largest share of community property and one-third of separate property, while children get the remaining two-thirds. Generally, assets with a beneficiary designated on them or those held jointly with the right of survivorship do not go through intestate succession since these pass automatically to the co-owner or the beneficiary. These include pay-on-death investment accounts, revocable living trusts, and joint tenancy assets with the right of survivorship.
If the deceased has no known heirs, the public administrator hired by the estate will use the estate’s funds to hire an heir-searching firm to find them. It can be costly, but it is better than leaving the assets to the state.
Heirs must outlive the deceased by 120 hours for their inheritance to be considered. This rule is intended to keep people from bequeathing their money or property to someone who will die shortly after they do, and it also prevents heirs from taking the deceased’s assets before death. In addition, relatives who are not U.S. citizens or legal immigrants will still be entitled to a portion of the estate as long as they are related by blood.
Children
If the deceased individual did not leave a will or estate plan, the state’s inheritance laws – intestate succession – will take effect. These laws assign how property and assets are distributed to heirs and beneficiaries.
The surviving spouse and children will inherit a percentage of the decedent’s estate. This percentage depends on how many children the decedent has and whether they are biological or stepchildren of the surviving spouse. Surviving siblings are also entitled to a share of the estate. It includes half-siblings, treated as full-blooded siblings despite having the same mother or father.
Additionally, any property the decedent owns will be distributed to the surviving spouse and living relatives (under California intestate laws). It includes pay-on-death investment accounts, revocable living trusts, community property with the right of survivorship, and joint tenant properties. It will not have real estate governed by a different process.
If the decedent leaves no living spouse, kids, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, or cousins, the property will be escheated to the state of California. These are scarce circumstances. In such cases, a public administrator will be appointed to administer the estate and hire an heir search firm to locate any known relatives. It can be very time-consuming and costly.
