Glossary · Inheritance and Family Rights
Intestate Succession
Florida’s default rules for who inherits when someone dies without a valid will.
Intestate succession is what happens when a person dies without a will, or with a will that is invalid. Florida statutes, not the family’s wishes, decide who receives the estate.
In general, a surviving spouse inherits everything if all of the children are shared by the couple. If the decedent had children from another relationship, the spouse and those children split the estate. With no spouse, the estate passes to children, then to parents, then to siblings, and outward from there.
Intestacy often produces results people would not have chosen, and it gives nothing to unmarried partners, stepchildren, or charities. A simple will avoids all of it.
In Florida
Florida’s intestacy statute controls when there is no will. A common surprise: if the decedent had children from a prior relationship, the surviving spouse does not inherit everything. The spouse and those children share the estate under the statute.
Common questions
Who inherits if there is no will in Florida?
The surviving spouse inherits everything only if all children are shared. Children from another relationship share the estate with the spouse. With no spouse, it passes to children, then parents, then siblings.
Paul Kogan
Fort Lauderdale Litigation Attorney, The Kogan Firm, P.A.
- 17+ years
- Florida Bar
- Martindale Peer Rated
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This page is general information about Intestate Succession under Florida law and does not constitute legal advice. Every family and estate is different.