In California, dying without a will or trust is not a neutral outcome. It is not simply that nothing happens and your family figures it out. When you die without an estate plan California law determines who receives your assets, who raises your children, and who manages your estate. The process is called intestate succession and it follows a fixed formula that has nothing to do with your actual wishes.
What does dying intestate mean?
Dying intestate means dying without a valid will. When this happens California's intestacy laws — found in the California Probate Code — determine how your estate is distributed. These rules apply to any assets that are not covered by a beneficiary designation or held in a trust.
The intestacy rules are designed to approximate what the legislature believes most people would want. They may or may not reflect what you actually want. They cannot account for your specific family dynamics, your relationships, or your individual circumstances.
How California distributes assets without a will
Community property
California is a community property state. Assets acquired during marriage are generally considered community property and belong equally to both spouses. When one spouse dies their half of the community property passes to the surviving spouse automatically — this happens regardless of whether there is a will.
Separate property
Separate property — assets owned before marriage, or received as gifts or inheritances during marriage — follows a different distribution. Under California intestacy law separate property is distributed as follows:
- If you have a spouse and one child: half goes to your spouse, half to your child.
- If you have a spouse and two or more children: one-third goes to your spouse, two-thirds divided equally among your children.
- If you have a spouse and no children but have a surviving parent, sibling, or their descendants: half goes to your spouse, half to those relatives.
- If you have no spouse: assets pass to children, then parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives in a defined order.
No surviving relatives
If California cannot identify any living relatives your estate escheats — meaning it passes to the state of California. This is rare but it does happen.
What about unmarried partners?
This is where California intestacy law creates significant hardship. Unmarried partners — regardless of how long you have been together, whether you share a home, or how intertwined your lives are — have no inheritance rights under California intestacy law.
If you are in a long-term relationship but not legally married and you die without a will or trust your partner receives nothing from your estate. Your assets pass to blood relatives, even ones you are estranged from or have never met, before your partner receives a dollar.
This is one of the most important reasons estate planning matters for unmarried couples. A will or trust is the only legal mechanism for ensuring your partner inherits.
What happens to your home?
Real estate is the most significant asset most California families own and it presents particular complications in intestacy.
If the home is community property and passes to a surviving spouse the transition can be relatively smooth — though probate is still typically required for the formal transfer.
If the home passes to children or multiple heirs the situation becomes more complex. Multiple heirs each own a fractional interest in the property. They must agree on what to do with it — sell it, continue holding it, or have one heir buy out the others. Disagreements are common and in some cases result in a court-ordered partition sale where the property is sold regardless of whether all heirs want to sell.
If you own the home in your individual name it goes through probate regardless of who inherits it. Probate on a California home typically takes 12 to 18 months and costs tens of thousands of dollars in statutory fees.
What happens to your children?
If you have minor children and no surviving parent your will is the document that nominates a guardian. Without a will a court decides who raises your children.
Courts apply a best interests of the child standard and typically prioritize relatives. But without your documented preference the court has no guidance about your wishes — who you would trust with your children, what values you would want instilled, or what living situation you believe is best.
The guardian designation in a will is one of the most compelling reasons for parents to have an estate plan. For most parents with young children it is reason enough on its own.
The probate process for intestate estates
Dying without a will does not eliminate probate — it changes it. Instead of a will being admitted to probate an administrator is appointed by the court to manage the estate. The administrator is typically a close relative but must petition the court for appointment.
The administrator has the same general responsibilities as an executor — inventorying assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what remains — but under court supervision and following the intestacy distribution rules rather than your wishes.
The cost and timeline of probate are the same whether there is a will or not. California's statutory probate fees are based on the gross value of the estate regardless of whether you left a will.
Assets that pass outside of intestacy
Not all assets are subject to intestacy rules. Assets with named beneficiaries or held in certain structures pass directly to the designated recipient regardless of what intestacy law would otherwise provide:
- Life insurance with a named beneficiary
- Retirement accounts — 401k, IRA, pension — with named beneficiaries
- Bank accounts with a payable-on-death designation
- Assets held in a revocable living trust
- Jointly held assets with right of survivorship
This is why beneficiary designations and trust funding matter as much as the documents themselves. An unfunded trust and a retirement account with an outdated beneficiary can leave significant assets subject to intestacy even when an estate plan exists on paper.
A will is better than nothing — but a trust is better than a will
If you currently have no estate plan at all a will is a meaningful step. It gives you the ability to name beneficiaries, designate a guardian for minor children, and avoid the court having to make those decisions on your behalf.
But a will still goes through probate. It still becomes public record. It still takes 12 to 18 months and costs statutory fees. For California homeowners and families with significant assets a revocable living trust avoids all of that.
The combination most California estate planning attorneys recommend — a revocable living trust as the primary vehicle, with a pour-over will as a safety net — gives you the flexibility of a will and the probate-avoidance benefits of a trust.
How to get started
Logan generates a complete California estate planning document package — revocable living trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney, and advance healthcare directive — from attorney-drafted state-specific templates. The intake takes about 45 minutes. Documents are delivered instantly. Legacy plan members receive attorney review and certification before delivery.