Who Inherits Property If There Is No Will in Florida

If someone in Florida dies without a valid will, state law decides who inherits. The statutes set an order of relatives and the surviving spouse, and that order controls who receives the property. So, who inherits property if there is no will in Florida? It depends on who survives and how the family is built. This page walks through each tier and the court steps that often follow.

What Is Intestate Succession in Florida?

Intestate succession is the set of state rules that decide who inherits when a person dies without a valid will. Florida calls this situation intestacy. § 732.101 says property not effectively disposed of by will passes to the decedent’s heirs under the intestacy sections. It also says the death itself gives heirs their right to that property.

Partial intestacy catches many families by surprise. A will may cover the house and the main bank account but leave out a car, a business interest or a small account. Whatever the will does not dispose of passes under the same intestacy rules.

What Happens If a Spouse Dies Without a Will?

A surviving spouse does not always inherit everything. The answer depends on whether the decedent left descendants, and whether those descendants also belong to the surviving spouse. § 732.102 sets out the shares.

If the decedent left no descendants, the spouse takes the entire intestate estate. The same result applies when every descendant is also the spouse’s, and the spouse has no other children.

Blended families change the outcome. If the decedent has a child from an earlier relationship, that child is not the spouse’s descendant. The spouse then takes one-half of the intestate estate. The same one-half share applies when the spouse has children from another relationship.

Here is an example. A man dies with no will, leaving a wife and an adult son from his first marriage. The son is not the wife’s descendant. Under § 732.102, the wife takes one-half of the intestate estate, and the rest passes to the son under § 732.103.

Many families assume the spouse takes everything. The statute often splits the estate instead, so the family facts need a close look.

If There Are Children But No Surviving Spouse

When there is no surviving spouse, the decedent’s descendants generally inherit. § 732.103 states that the estate passes first to the decedent’s descendants. This is the step that matters most when a parent dies and the other parent is gone.

Florida distributes property per stirpes. § 732.104 says descent is per stirpes, whether to descendants or to collateral heirs. In plain terms, if a child died before the parent, that child’s descendants take the share the child would have received. A grandchild can inherit through a parent who died first.

Adoption also matters. § 732.108 treats an adopted person as a descendant of the adopting parent for intestate purposes. Fla. Stat. § 732.108 reads: “(1) For the purpose of intestate succession by or from an adopted person, the adopted person is a descendant of the adopting parent and is one of the natural kindred of all members of the adopting parent’s family, and is not a descendant of his or her natural parents, nor is he or she one of the kindred of any member of the natural parent’s family or any prior adoptive parent’s family, except that: (a) Adoption of a child by the spouse of a natural parent has no effect on the relationship between the child and the natural parent or the natural parent’s family.” The same statute covers children born outside marriage. Such a child is a descendant of the mother. The child is also a descendant of the father if a listed condition applies, such as paternity established by adjudication or acknowledged in writing.

Families with children from more than one relationship often need the paperwork. Adoption records and paternity documents can show who the heirs are.

If There Is No Spouse or Descendants: Parents, Siblings and Other Relatives

If the decedent had no spouse or descendants, the estate moves to parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives. § 732.103 sets these tiers in order. Each tier applies only when the tier before it is empty.

Next come brothers and sisters, and the descendants of any brother or sister who died earlier. If there is none of the foregoing, the estate is divided between the decedent’s paternal and maternal kindred, in the order the statute sets out (Fla. Stat. § 732.103). One half goes to the paternal side and one half to the maternal side. Grandparents come first on each side, then uncles and aunts and their descendants.

Half-blood relatives count differently. § 732.105 says relatives of the half blood inherit only half as much as relatives of the whole blood. The exception is when all of them are of the half blood.

§ 732.107 says that when no one is entitled to part of an estate, that part escheats to the state.

Does a Son-in-Law or Stepchild Inherit Without a Will?

Usually not. § 731.201 defines heirs as the persons, including the surviving spouse, entitled under the intestacy statutes.

Take this example. A father dies with no will and no surviving spouse. His daughter died three years earlier, leaving two children. Her children take their mother’s share, per stirpes.

Stepchildren work the same way in most cases. A stepchild generally is not an intestate heir unless a legal relationship applies. If a stepparent adopted the child, the adoption can make that child a descendant under § 732.108. Fla. Stat. § 732.108 reads: “(1) For the purpose of intestate succession by or from an adopted person, the adopted person is a descendant of the adopting parent and is one of the natural kindred of all members of the adopting parent’s family, and is not a descendant of his or her natural parents, nor is he or she one of the kindred of any member of the natural parent’s family or any prior adoptive parent’s family, except that: (a) Adoption of a child by the spouse of a natural parent has no effect on the relationship between the child and the natural parent or the natural parent’s family.”

Assets That Pass Outside Probate Even Without a Will

Some property passes outside the intestacy rules. These assets follow their own paperwork.

Families often assume every asset goes through probate, or every asset goes to the heirs. Check each deed, account and designation before deciding what the court must handle.

Many families also ask whether a lawyer is needed to transfer a deed. A deed that passes by survivorship can transfer differently from one held in the decedent’s sole name.

How the Probate Process Starts When There Is No Will

Probate starts when someone asks the court to appoint a personal representative (often called an executor) to manage the estate. § 733.301 sets the order of preference. In an intestate estate, the surviving spouse comes first. Next is the person chosen by a majority of the heirs, then the heir nearest in degree. If several heirs apply at the same level, the court may choose among them.

The statute also limits who may be appointed. A court employee, or someone who holds office under a judge with probate jurisdiction, cannot be appointed under the court’s fallback power.

Trust Counsel’s attorneys can serve individually as personal representative. The firm advises and represents trustees, personal representatives and beneficiaries. The general steps include a petition to the court, notice to heirs, an inventory of assets, notice to creditors, and distribution under the intestacy order.

Some estates qualify for a simpler process. Under § 735.201, summary administration may be had in a resident or nonresident decedent’s estate when it appears that the value of the entire estate subject to administration in this state, less the value of property exempt from the claims of creditors, does not exceed $150,000 or that the decedent has been dead for more than 2 years. Smaller estates may use an affidavit procedure. Under § 735.304, administration is not required, and formal proceedings may not be instituted, where a decedent died intestate leaving only exempt personal property and nonexempt personal property valued at $20,000 or less, plus preferred funeral expenses and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness, provided the decedent has been deceased for more than 1 year and no administration of the decedent’s estate is pending in this state.

Next Steps If Your Family Is Facing an Estate Without a Will

If your family faces an estate with no will, start by listing each asset and how it is titled. Then confirm who the heirs are under the statutes above. Many people read this page while handling a parent’s or spouse’s death for the first time, with bills, paperwork and relatives asking questions.

For the wider court process, see our probate litigation page. Leslie V. Marenco is the responsible lawyer for this page. Trust Counsel, PL is located in Coral Gables.

Frequently asked questions