In California, your next of kin are the relatives the Probate Code puts in line to act for you or inherit from you, starting with a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and moving to children, parents, siblings, grandparents, and more distant kin from there. That ranking does real work: it decides who inherits when there is no will, who can consent to medical treatment when no agent is named, who controls the funeral, and who may sue if the death was wrongful. The order shifts slightly from one statute to another, so the person at the top for inheritance is not always the person at the top for burial or healthcare decisions.
The Order of Priority
Probate Code Section 6402 sets the default order for inheritance when a decedent leaves property that does not pass to a surviving spouse. The same ranking anchors most other next-of-kin questions:1California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 6402 – Intestate Succession Generally
- Children, and the descendants of any child who died first
- Parents, if no children or grandchildren survive
- Siblings and the descendants of a deceased sibling, if no parents survive
- Grandparents and their descendants, which pulls in aunts, uncles, and cousins
- Descendants of a predeceased spouse
- Parents or siblings of a predeceased spouse, as a last step before the state inherits
Relatives at the same level share equally. More remote relatives take “by representation,” meaning a grandchild steps into a deceased parent’s slot and receives only what the parent would have received.1California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 6402 – Intestate Succession Generally
How the Estate Divides Without a Will
Dying without a will in California triggers two parallel sets of rules, one for community property and one for separate property.
Community property covers most assets built up during a marriage or registered domestic partnership. Each spouse already owns half. When one spouse dies without a will, the decedent’s half passes entirely to the surviving spouse, so the survivor ends up with the whole asset.2California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 6401 – Intestate Succession Generally
Separate property is different. It includes assets owned before the marriage, individual gifts, and inheritances. The surviving spouse’s share depends on who else is alive:2California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 6401 – Intestate Succession Generally
- With one child, or the descendants of one child: the spouse gets half, the child gets half.
- With two or more children, or their descendants: the spouse gets one-third, the children split two-thirds.
- With no children but a surviving parent or sibling: the spouse gets half, the parents or siblings get the other half.
- With no children, parents, or siblings: the spouse takes everything.
Whatever portion does not pass to the surviving spouse then follows the Section 6402 ladder, starting with children.
Half-Siblings, Stepchildren, and Adopted Children
A half-sibling inherits the same share as a full sibling. Probate Code Section 6406 draws no distinction between half-blood and whole-blood relatives.3California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 6406 – Halfblood Relatives
Legally adopted children stand on identical footing with biological children. Adoption severs inheritance rights from the birth family and creates full rights within the adoptive family.
Stepchildren have no automatic right to inherit. California only treats a stepchild as an heir when the relationship began during the child’s minority, continued throughout both lives, and clear and convincing evidence shows the stepparent would have adopted the child but was blocked by a legal barrier. Courts occasionally recognize “equitable adoption” where a stepparent intended to adopt but never completed the paperwork. Outside those narrow exceptions, a stepchild who wants to inherit from a stepparent needs to be named in a will or trust.
Who Decides Medical Care
When a patient cannot make healthcare decisions and has not named an agent in an advance directive, Probate Code Section 4712 lets a provider or facility designee select a surrogate from this order:4California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 4712 – Health Care Decisions
- Spouse or registered domestic partner
- Adult child
- Parent
- Adult sibling
- Adult grandchild
- Any other adult relative or close personal friend
The surrogate must have shown genuine concern for the patient and be familiar with the patient’s values. If the patient previously designated a surrogate directly by informing the supervising provider, that person takes priority over an advance-directive agent for the current treatment or 60 days, whichever is shorter.
A surrogate must follow the patient’s known wishes and, when those are unknown, act in the patient’s best interests given the patient’s values. The authority covers consent to or refusal of treatment, including life-sustaining care, and ends when the patient regains capacity or a court appoints a conservator.
Who Controls Funeral and Burial
The ranking for disposition of remains is set by Health and Safety Code Section 7100, and it is not identical to the inheritance order:5California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 7100 – Custody and Duty of Interment
- An agent given disposition authority under a power of attorney for health care
- Surviving spouse
- Majority of surviving adult children, or a smaller group if they made reasonable efforts to notify the others and met no opposition
- Surviving parent or parents
- Majority of surviving adult siblings
- Next degree of adult relatives
The highest-ranked person who is competent and willing to act holds both the right to arrange the funeral and the financial responsibility for reasonable costs. The key difference from the inheritance ladder: an agent named in a healthcare power of attorney with disposition authority jumps ahead of the surviving spouse. Where relatives at the same tier cannot agree, a majority controls, and a stubborn deadlock may require a court petition.
Who Can Sue for Wrongful Death
California opens wrongful death claims to a wider circle than inheritance does. Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60 lists who may sue:6California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 377.60 – Wrongful Death
- The surviving spouse or domestic partner, children, and the grandchildren of a deceased child
- Anyone who would inherit by intestate succession if there are no surviving children or grandchildren, which brings in parents, siblings, and more distant relatives
- Dependents regardless of blood: stepchildren, a putative spouse (someone who believed in good faith that a void marriage was valid), parents, and legal guardians, if they were financially dependent on the decedent
- Minor household members who lived in the decedent’s home for at least 180 days before the death and depended on the decedent for at least half their support
Financial dependence, not genetics, is what opens the door for stepchildren and other non-blood relatives in this specific context.
Debts of the Deceased
Family members generally do not owe a deceased relative’s debts out of their own money. Those debts are paid from the estate, and if the estate runs short, the balance usually goes unpaid.7Federal Trade Commission. Debts and Deceased Relatives
Three situations can make you personally liable:7Federal Trade Commission. Debts and Deceased Relatives
- You co-signed the debt, for example a joint credit card or car loan.
- You are the surviving spouse in a community property state, and California is one. Debts incurred during the marriage may count as community obligations even if only one spouse’s name is on the account.
- You mishandled the estate as the person responsible for settling it.
Collectors may contact family members to locate whoever is handling the estate, but federal law bars them from disclosing the debt to relatives who are not responsible for it and generally limits them to one such contact.
Proving You Are Next of Kin
Claiming any of these rights requires paperwork. The core documents are certified birth certificates showing the family relationship, a certified death certificate, and marriage or domestic partnership certificates where relevant.
An Affidavit of Heirship is a sworn statement that lays out the decedent’s family tree: every relative, each relationship, and who is living or deceased. It is signed before a notary and witnessed by people who knew the family but have no financial interest in the estate. Those disinterested witnesses give the affidavit its weight.
You present the records to banks, the county recorder, or the probate court depending on what asset is being transferred. If paperwork is incomplete or another relative disputes your claim, a court order may be needed.
The Small-Estate Shortcut
California lets heirs skip full probate for smaller estates. For deaths on or after April 1, 2025, if the total gross value of qualifying personal property is $208,850 or less, you can use a Small Estate Affidavit to have assets transferred directly to you with no court case.8California Courts. Check If You Can Use a Simple Process to Transfer Property
You must wait at least 40 days after the death before using this procedure. The threshold is the gross fair market value of the estate’s personal property on the date of death, calculated before subtracting debts, and it adjusts every three years, with the next change scheduled for April 1, 2028. Real property has its own separate simplified process with a different threshold. Estates above these limits require a full probate proceeding, which means filing a petition in superior court, notifying creditors, and getting court approval before anything is distributed.8California Courts. Check If You Can Use a Simple Process to Transfer Property