Intestacy: What Happens Without a Will

Many American adults do not have a will. When a Pennsylvania resident dies without one, the estate does not go to the government (a common myth). It goes to relatives in a fixed order set by 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 2101 to 2114. You do not choose. The statute chooses for you.

The result is often not what the decedent would have wanted. The intestacy formula is mechanical. It does not account for estranged children, a partner of 20 years who is not a legal spouse, stepchildren you raised as your own, or the sibling who cared for you versus the one who did not speak to you for a decade. Everyone in the same category gets the same share.

The Basic Intestate Framework

Pennsylvania's intestate succession follows a strict hierarchy. The surviving spouse receives the entire intestate estate if the decedent left no surviving children or other descendants and no surviving parent (§ 2102(1)). If a parent survives and there are no descendants, the spouse receives the first $30,000 plus half the balance (§ 2102(2)). If the decedent had children who are also children of the surviving spouse, the spouse receives the first $30,000 plus half the balance, the children split the rest. If any children are from a prior relationship, the spouse receives only half, no $30,000 credit. If there is no surviving spouse, everything goes to children in equal shares. If no children, to parents. If no parents, to siblings. The statute continues through increasingly remote relatives before the estate passes, under Act 50 of 2025, to an endowed community fund in the decedent's municipality, school district, or county; and only if no qualifying fund exists does the estate escheat to the Commonwealth (§ 2103(a)(6)). True escheat is extremely rare.

Two critical points people miss. First, the intestate share is calculated on the probate estate only. It does not include life insurance, retirement accounts, jointly held property, or anything with a beneficiary designation. Those assets pass outside probate regardless of the intestacy rules, so long as a named beneficiary or surviving co-owner takes them. Second, an intestate estate usually requires letters of administration from the Register of Wills. Small estates may qualify for a court petition instead (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102). One asset class that catches families out: oil, gas, and mineral rights are real property in Pennsylvania, so a severed mineral interest the decedent owned descends through this same hierarchy, often splitting among heirs as tenants in common. Our guide to inheriting oil, gas, and mineral rights in Pennsylvania explains what heirs actually receive.

There is also a survival requirement that catches people out. An heir must outlive the decedent by five days to inherit. Anyone who does not is treated as having predeceased the decedent, and the estate passes as though that person were never there (20 Pa.C.S. § 2104(10)). If the order of deaths cannot be established, the law assumes the heir did not survive. The five-day rule does not apply where it would send the estate to the Commonwealth. This decides who inherits after a common accident, and it can move an entire estate to a different branch of the family.

Pennsylvania Intestate Succession: Interactive Guide

Tap your family scenario below to see exactly how a $200,000 estate would be divided under Pennsylvania law.

Important: These rules apply only to the probate estate. Life insurance, retirement accounts, jointly held property, and accounts with beneficiary designations pass outside of probate, the intestacy statute does not control them.

Legal and factual content on this page was last verified: Sept. 2026. If you are reading this significantly after that date, confirm key provisions with current statute text or contact our office.