Who Are California’s Heirs at Law in Intestate Succession

When a California resident dies without a valid will, the Probate Code decides who inherits. The people entitled to take under that default plan are called heirs at law, and California’s intestate succession rules in Probate Code Sections 6400 through 6414 rank them in a fixed order: surviving spouse or registered domestic partner first, then children and their descendants, then parents, then siblings and their descendants, then grandparents and their descendants, and outward from there. What each heir actually receives depends on which combination of relatives is alive at the time of death and how the decedent’s property is classified.¹

What Property the Intestacy Rules Actually Control

Intestate succession only governs assets that would have passed under a will. Property with its own transfer mechanism is untouched by the hierarchy below. Life insurance proceeds go to the named beneficiary. Joint tenancy property passes automatically to the surviving co-owner. Retirement accounts follow their beneficiary designations. Assets held in a living trust pass under the trust’s terms. Everything else — a house titled in the decedent’s name alone, a solo bank account, personal belongings, a car — is what the probate court distributes to heirs at law.¹

The court follows the statute literally. What the decedent said during life, what family members believed was intended, or what seems fair carries no legal weight. Only a valid written will changes the default.²

Surviving Spouse or Registered Domestic Partner

A surviving spouse or registered domestic partner is first in line. Their share depends on how the property is classified under California law. Domestic partners receive identical treatment to spouses at every step.³

Community and Quasi-Community Property

California is a community property state. Most assets acquired during the marriage already belong equally to both spouses, so each spouse owns half. When one spouse dies without a will, the survivor inherits the decedent’s half and ends up with full ownership of all community property. Quasi-community property — assets that would have been community property if acquired in California but were acquired elsewhere before the couple moved here — follows the same rule.³

Separate Property

Separate property is anything the decedent owned before marriage, plus individual gifts and inheritances received during the marriage. How much of it the spouse takes depends on who else survived:

No surviving children, parents, or siblings: the spouse takes all of the separate property.
One child, or the descendants of one deceased child, or parents or siblings but no children: the spouse takes one-half, and the other half goes to those relatives.
Two or more children, or their descendants: the spouse takes one-third, and the remaining two-thirds goes to the children or their descendants.

These fractions apply to the net estate after debts and administrative expenses are paid.³

Putative Spouses

Someone who honestly believed their marriage was legally valid, even though it was not, may qualify as a putative spouse under Family Code Section 2251 and claim marital property rights. These claims usually arise from an unknown prior marriage that made the later ceremony void, and courts evaluate them case by case based on what the person knew and when.

Children and Descendants

With no surviving spouse or domestic partner, the decedent’s children inherit the entire estate in equal shares. With a surviving spouse, the children divide whatever portion of the separate property the spouse does not take.¹

When a Child Has Already Died

A deceased child’s descendants step up to take the share their parent would have received. Probate Code Section 240 handles this by dividing the estate into equal shares at the nearest generation that has living members, then passing each deceased member’s share down to that person’s own descendants in equal portions. Grandchildren can inherit, but only the slice their deceased parent would have taken.⁴

Adopted Children

Legally adopted children inherit the same as biological children. Adoption generally cuts off inheritance rights from the birth parents for intestacy purposes. The main exception is a stepparent adoption: the child still inherits from and through the other biological parent’s family, because the adoption was meant to add a parent rather than replace one.⁵

Stepchildren and Foster Children

Stepchildren and foster children do not automatically inherit, which surprises many families where a stepparent raised a child from a young age. Probate Code Section 6454 opens a narrow door: a stepchild or foster child can inherit as though adopted if two conditions are met. The parent-child relationship must have begun while the child was a minor and continued throughout the lifetimes of both. And there must be clear and convincing evidence that the stepparent or foster parent would have adopted the child but was blocked by a legal barrier, such as the inability to obtain consent from a biological parent.⁶

Clear and convincing evidence is a demanding standard. Courts have credited tax returns listing the child as a dependent, insurance policies naming the child, and testimony about the parent’s stated intent to adopt. Without that kind of record, these claims rarely succeed.

Half-Siblings

Half-siblings inherit the same share as full siblings. Sharing only one parent makes no difference.¹

Parents, Siblings, and More Distant Relatives

With no spouse, domestic partner, or descendants, the statute moves outward through the family tree in a set order:

Parents inherit equally. If only one parent is living, that parent takes everything.
If no parent survives, the estate goes to the decedent’s brothers and sisters. A deceased sibling’s children take that sibling’s share by representation.
If no siblings or their descendants survive, the estate passes to grandparents, or if they are gone, to their descendants, meaning aunts, uncles, and cousins.

The statute keeps going through more remote branches, with the same right of representation applied at every level.¹

If no living relative can be found at any level, the estate escheats to the State of California. This is rare, but it is the clearest reason to put even a simple will in place.⁷

Rules That Change Who Qualifies as an Heir

The 120-Hour Survival Requirement

Probate Code Section 6403 requires an heir to outlive the decedent by at least 120 hours, or five full days. If clear and convincing evidence cannot show the heir survived that long, the law treats the heir as having died first, and the share drops to the next person in line. The rule prevents the same assets from running through two probate proceedings in quick succession. One exception applies: if enforcing the rule would send the entire estate to the state by escheat, the requirement is waived so the property can stay with family.⁸

The Slayer Rule

Probate Code Section 250 bars anyone who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent from inheriting through any mechanism, including intestacy. The court treats the killer as having died before the decedent, removing them from the line entirely. A criminal conviction creates a conclusive presumption, but the probate court can also reach the same conclusion on its own findings even without a conviction. A criminal acquittal does not automatically restore the right to inherit, because the civil standard of proof is lower.⁹

When Formal Probate May Not Be Needed

Not every estate requires a full probate case to reach the heirs the statute identifies. California allows heirs to collect personal property using a simple affidavit if the total estate value is $184,500 or less, a threshold that applies to deaths on or after April 1, 2022 and is subject to periodic inflation adjustment. The affidavit can be used only after 40 days have passed since the death and only if no probate case is already open. It is signed under penalty of perjury and presented, along with a certified death certificate, directly to the bank, brokerage, DMV office, or other holder of the asset.¹⁰

1
Justia Law. California Probate Code Chapter 1 – Intestate Succession Generally
2
Judicial Branch of California. Guide to Property After Someone Dies
3
California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 6401
4
California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 240
5
California Law Revision Commission. Study L-659.01 – Inheritance Involving Adopted Child
6
California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 6454
7
California Legislative Information. California Probate Code Division 6, Part 4 – Escheat of Decedent’s Property
8
California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 6403
9
California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 250
10
Judicial Branch of California. Small Estate Affidavit to Transfer Personal Property