Don’t Have An Estate Plan? You’ll Use The State’s Plan

Ever wonder what happens when you pass away in California without an estate plan?  The state has a plan for you.  It’s called “intestacy” and your estate is divided according to the rules laid out.

• If you have a surviving spouse or domestic partner, all community property and quasi-community property is given to that spouse/partner. 
• If you pass away with separate property then your spouse/partner receive 100% of separate property if you leave no children or children of your children, parent, brother, sister or children of deceased brothers and sisters. 
• This number drops to 50% if you only had one child (or children of one deceased child), or at least one parent, brother, sister or children of any of them
• This number drops further to 33% if you had more than one child, or one child and children of a deceased child, or children of two or more deceased children

That is just what your surviving spouse or domestic partner receives if you die without a will.  The rules that determine what your other heirs get, if anything, are even more complicated.  And if you have no heirs at all?   Your assets “escheat” to the state which means they get your assets.

The point is, if you have an estate of any decent size you will want to, at a minimum, do some basic planning that directs who gets your assets upon death.