What Happens if You Die Without a Will in Virginia?

Clients sometimes pose the question, “What would happen if I died without a will?” It’s a common question that concerns folks who are worried about the cost of creating a will, how the will fits into their larger estate plan, or when older parents hesitate to finalize their estate plan. These are valid concerns, but the truth is that dying without a will in place can cause significant complications for your loved ones. In Virginia, if you pass away without a will, your assets are distributed according to the rule of intestate succession. In other words, the intestacy of the Commonwealth decides who inherits your assets. This may or may not align with your personal wishes and can result in delays or added expenses. Sometimes it even results in family strife. In this article, the Virginia estate planning attorneys at The Law Office of Angela N. Manz will discuss what happens to your assets if you don’t have a will in Virginia.

What is intestacy? 

Suppose you were to die without a will or other estate planning documents. In that case, you’re said to have died “intestate.” This means that the Commonwealth of Virginia will decide which of your heirs inherits what based on the rules set forth in Section 64.2-200 of the Code of Virginia. These rules do not consider personal relationships, family dynamics, charitable donations, or what you would have wanted. This means that the people and causes you care about may not receive anything at all from your estate after you pass.

Not only will your assets pass into intestate succession if you don’t have a will, they will also pass into intestate succession if your will is deemed to be invalid or incomplete by the clerk of court. The state of Virginia has strict requirements for wills, and self-prepared documents or those created in other states often lack the necessary legal requirements that Virginia demands. In these cases, your state could still be treated as intestate.

How are assets distributed if you don’t have a will? 

Virginia’s rules for intestate succession follow a strict hierarchy that determines who inherits your estate in the absence of an estate plan. Below we’ll take a detailed look at how this works.

Do you have a surviving spouse and children?  If so, your spouse gets everything if all the children are also your spouse’s children. If any of the children are from a previous relationship, your spouse gets one-third and your children divide the remaining two-thirds.

Is there no surviving spouse, but there are children? All of your assets would pass to your children or their descendants if a child has predeceased you.

What if there is no spouse and no children? Your estate would then pass to your parents, and if they are not alive anymore, it would pass to your siblings or their descendants.

What if there are no close relatives? In that case, your estate would be split between your maternal and paternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, or their descendants. The process would continue up the family tree if necessary. If no relatives can be found at all, then your estate would be inherited by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Talk to a Virginia Beach estate planning attorney today 

The Law Office of Angela N. Manz represents the interests of Virginia Beach residents who are looking to draft or make changes to their estate plan. Call our Virginia Beach estate planning lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin discussing your next steps immediately.