What happens if a person dies intestate?
If a Virginia resident dies without a will, his property passes in its entirety to his “heirs at law” as determined by Virginia law. Here is the current order of priority determining a deceased person’s heirs: • Surviving spouse • Children • Parents • Siblings However, if the decedent has children from someone other than the surviving spouse, then one-third passes to the surviving spouse and the remaining two-thirds is divided equally among such children. If the decedent does not have a surviving spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, or siblings, one-half of his estate will pass to the nearest relatives on his mother’s side and the other half will pass to the nearest relatives on his father’s side. What happens to property passing in intestacy to a minor child? Where the beneficiary of an estate is a minor child, the court will appoint a guardian to manage the child’s property. This court-appointed guardianship is generally more cumbersome and more expensive than the creation of a
