It’s been said that everyone knows that eventually they are going to die, but no one believes it will happen to them. And so it is fairly common that people put off planning their estate by executing a valid will or a living trust. And a significant portion of Washington residents - perhaps as high as 70%!- do exactly that: they die intestate (without a valid will in place) leaving the state to decide who inherits their estate and how.
Washington has a well-developed set of intestate succession laws (RCW Title 11.04) that specify exactly who gets what when there is no will. The rules are clear and orderly. They are also completely indifferent to family dynamics, individual circumstances, and the specific wishes the deceased might have had. When you die without a will in Washington, the state’s plan applies—not yours.
This article explains how Washington’s intestate succession laws work, what the probate process looks like without a will, and what to do if you find yourself navigating one.
How Washington decides who inherits without a will
Washington’s intestate succession statutes (RCW 11.04) establish a priority order of heirs who inherit when there is no will. The order starts with those closest to the deceased and works outward:
Surviving spouse or registered domestic partner. Washington is a community property state, which means that assets acquired during the marriage are presumed to be community property, owned equally by both spouses. When one spouse dies intestate, the surviving spouse automatically receives their half of the community property—that half was already theirs. The question is what happens to the deceased spouse’s half of the community property, and to any separate property (assets owned before the marriage or acquired by gift or inheritance during it).
If the deceased had no children, parents, or siblings surviving them, the surviving spouse inherits everything—both the deceased’s share of community property and all separate property. If there are surviving descendants (children or grandchildren), the surviving spouse receives the deceased’s share of community property, and the separate property is divided: one-half goes to the spouse and one-half passes to the deceased’s descendants.
Children and descendants. Children of the deceased—including legally adopted children—inherit if the deceased had no surviving spouse, or share in the estate alongside a surviving spouse as described above. Children born outside of marriage inherit if the parent-child relationship was legally established. Stepchildren and foster children do not automatically inherit unless they were legally adopted.
If a child predeceased their parent, that child’s share passes to their own children (the deceased’s grandchildren) by “right of representation”—the grandchildren step into their parent’s place and divide their parent’s share equally among themselves.
Parents. If the deceased left no surviving spouse and no surviving children or descendants, the estate passes to the deceased’s parents equally, or to the surviving parent if only one is living.
Siblings and their descendants. If there are no surviving parents, the estate passes to the deceased’s brothers and sisters, with the children of any deceased sibling stepping in by right of representation.
More distant relatives. If none of the above relatives survive, the estate passes to grandparents, then to aunts and uncles and their descendants, following a specific pattern set out in the statute.
The state of Washington. If no relatives can be identified, the estate “escheats” to the state of Washington. This is rare but does occur when a person dies with no identifiable heirs.
How a surviving spouse’s share works under community property rules
Washington’s community property system makes intestate succession more complex than in common law states. The key distinction is between community property and separate property:
Community property is generally any asset acquired during the marriage through the efforts of either spouse—wages, assets purchased with wages, and appreciation on community assets. Each spouse owns an undivided one-half interest in all community property. When a spouse dies intestate, the surviving spouse keeps all the community property: their own half (no probate needed for that half), plus the deceased spouse’s half .
If there is no surviving spouse then the deceased spouse’s share of the community property goes in equal shares in the following order: surviving children or grandchildren; the deceased spouse’s surviving parents; surviving siblings (brothers and sisters); surviving grand parents; surviving issue of grand parents (1st cousins, 2nd cousins, etc.) This is a frequent surprise to married couples - especially where there is a blended family.
Separate property is generally assets owned before the marriage, received as gifts or inheritance during the marriage, money received in compensation for personal injury, and assets kept entirely separate from marital finances throughout the marriage. Separate property passes differently from community property. The surviving spouse receives a portion of the deceased’s separate property, but the descendants receive the rest.
The interplay of these rules can produce results that feel deeply unfair to the people involved—particularly in second marriages, blended families, and situations where substantial separate property is involved. These are exactly the situations where dying without a will causes the most damage.
How the court appoints an administrator
In a probate with a will, the will nominates the personal representative. Without a will, no such nomination exists—the court must appoint an administrator to manage the estate. Washington law (RCW 11.28) specifies the priority order for who may be appointed:
- The surviving spouse or registered domestic partner
- The deceased’s children or their legal representatives
- The deceased’s parents
- The deceased’s siblings
- Any heir at law who requests appointment
- A creditor of the estate (if no heir can serve or consents)
- Any person of good character the court finds suitable
The priority order does not mean the court must appoint the first-priority person—it means the court gives preference to them. If the surviving spouse has a conflict of interest, is unable to serve, or declines the appointment, the court moves to the next in line.
Unlike a named personal representative under a will, an administrator in an intestate estate often faces additional requirements. Washington courts will likely require an administrator to post a probate bond—essentially an insurance policy that protects the estate against mismanagement. Bonding requirements can sometimes be waived by agreement of all heirs, but this requires unanimous consent.
The administrator has essentially the same duties and authority as a personal representative under a will, including the ability to request nonintervention powers if the estate is solvent. The absence of a will makes the appointment process more uncertain and difficult but does not change the fundamental structure of what comes next.
What happens when the deceased had significant community property and no will
One of the most practical consequences of dying intestate in Washington is what happens to the family home and other jointly accumulated assets when there are children from the marriage.
Under Washington’s intestate rules, if a husband dies without a will leaving a wife and two adult children from the marriage, the deceased husband’s half of the community property—including his interest in the family home—passes to the wife who also retains her own half. The surviving wife also gets one-half of the deceased husband’s separate property, and the two adult children split equally the other half.
This is one of the most compelling reasons for married couples to have at minimum a will and a community property agreement in place: to ensure that at the first death, all property passes cleanly to the surviving spouse without this kind of co-ownership complexity.
What to do if you suspect a will exists but can’t be found
If you believe the deceased had a will but cannot locate it, do not assume there isn’t one. Wills are sometimes stored in unexpected places: safe deposit boxes, home safes, with an attorney, or with a bank’s trust department. Before proceeding as if the estate is intestate, take these steps:
Search the deceased’s personal papers. Check desk drawers, filing cabinets, and any secure storage at home. Look for any documents referencing an attorney or a law firm.
Contact attorneys the deceased may have worked with. Law offices frequently retain copies of wills they have drafted, even years later. A phone call to any attorney the deceased used for legal matters is worth making.
Check for a safe deposit box. Banks can sometimes be persuaded to allow a search of a safe deposit box for a will (without removing other contents) even before formal probate letters are issued, if you explain the purpose.
Consider filing a petition for probate regardless. If a will surfaces after an intestate administration has begun, the court can consider it, but the process becomes more complicated. If there is meaningful reason to believe a will exists, it is better to delay filing than to proceed on the assumption that the estate is intestate.
Ask family members and close friends. The deceased may have mentioned having a will or having visited an attorney without sharing the document’s location.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does an intestate estate still go through probate?
Yes. Without a will, the estate still must go through the Washington Superior Court probate process to have an administrator appointed, creditors notified, and assets legally distributed to heirs at law. The process is structurally similar to probate with a will, but the absence of a will adds uncertainty and complications to the appointment process and the distribution plan.
Can heirs agree to distribute assets differently than the intestate statute requires?
Yes, with some limitations. Heirs who are all adults with legal capacity can enter into an agreement among themselves to distribute the estate differently than the statute would require. This requires the consent of all interested parties and must typically be documented in a written settlement agreement. An attorney can help structure this kind of arrangement.
What happens to the deceased’s debts in an intestate estate?
Debts are handled the same way as in any probate. The estate must pay valid creditor claims before distributing anything to heirs. The administrator publishes notice to creditors, handles claims as they come in, and pays valid ones in the priority order specified by Washington law. Heirs are not personally responsible for the deceased’s debts—only the estate is liable.
Can a surviving domestic partner inherit in an intestate estate?
Yes. Washington’s intestate succession laws treat registered domestic partners the same as surviving spouses. An unregistered domestic partner, however—someone who lived with the deceased but was not a registered partner and was not married—generally has no intestate inheritance rights, regardless of the length and nature of the relationship.
What if the deceased had children from a previous relationship?
Children from any relationship—within or outside of marriage, biological or adopted—inherit equally in Washington’s intestate scheme. If the deceased had a surviving spouse and children from a prior relationship, the interplay of the community and separate property rules will govern how the estate is divided. This is one of the most common situations where intestate succession produces results that feel deeply unfair, and one of the strongest arguments for having a well-drafted will.
Conclusion
Dying without a will in Washington does not mean your estate is lost—it means the state’s default rules take over. Those rules are logical and consistent, but they are not personalized. They do not account for family relationships that don’t fit the standard mold, for specific wishes you had about particular assets, or for the reality that blended families and second marriages create situations the default rules handle poorly.
If you are navigating an intestate estate now—as a surviving spouse, an heir, or a potential administrator—we can walk you through what the statute requires and what your options are. And if this situation has convinced you that it is time to write your own will, we are equally happy to have that conversation. The first call is free.