Also known as: die intestate · dies intestate · dying intestate · intestacy · intestate succession
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The condition of a person who dies without having executed a valid will. Property owned at death therefore passes according to the jurisdiction's intestacy statute rather than by devise.
Dwight Dorsey gave his daughter Denise $50,000 during his lifetime to help her buy a home. When Dwight died intestate, Denise was his only surviving heir. Because Dwight left a contemporaneous writing stating the gift counted toward her share, the probate court treated the transfer as an advancement and reduced Denise's intestate distribution accordingly.
Diego Duarte owned a warehouse in his sole name. After he died intestate, his surviving spouse received the property under the state's statute of descent and distribution. No deed from Diego was required. Title transferred directly by operation of law.
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Dustin Donovan's will left a remainder interest to his descendants without specifying shares. When the interest became possessory, the court divided the property among the living descendants in the proportions they would have taken had Dustin died intestate owning the asset at that moment.
Doris Duffy, an enrolled tribal member, died intestate owning several small undivided interests in allotted land. Under the federal statute then in force, the interests passed to the tribe rather than to her heirs because the parcels fell below the statutory size threshold.
Denise Donovan died intestate survived by her daughter born out of wedlock. The daughter presented a court-ordered paternity judgment and a written acknowledgment from Denise. The probate court recognized the daughter as an heir entitled to the entire estate under the applicable intestacy statute.
Diane Dawson died intestate leaving two children born during his marriage and one child born outside the marriage. The out-of-wedlock child could not produce the specific form of proof required by state statute. The court therefore excluded that child from the intestate distribution.
Under typical modern intestacy statutes, the surviving spouse takes the entire estate when the decedent leaves no surviving descendants and no surviving parents.
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No. Intestacy statutes require a legal parent-child relationship created by biology or formal adoption. Informal adoption or affectionate references do not qualify a person as a descendant entitled to inherit.
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A parent who has disappeared but has not been declared dead by a court is treated as not surviving. The surviving spouse therefore takes the entire intestate estate.
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The spouse receives the first $150,000 plus one-half of the remaining balance under UPC § 2-102(4) because at least one descendant is not also a descendant of the surviving spouse.
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The spouse receives the first $300,000 plus three-fourths of the remaining balance, with the parents sharing the final one-fourth.
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…this case is the constitutionality of § 12 of the Illinois Probate Act[^maj-1] which allows illegitimate children to inherit by intestate succession only from their mothers. Under Illinois law, legitimate children are allowed to inherit by intestate succession from both their mothers and their fathers.[^maj-2] I Appellant Deta…