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Katz & Associates / When there is no will
Start with the property, then the family tree. Florida's default shares depend on more than whether a spouse and children survive.
The short answer
When Florida property passes without a valid will directing it, intestate succession supplies the heirs and their shares. A spouse may receive all or half of the intestate estate. The family tree determines which rule applies. Other rules identify who receives the balance.
Those shares do not automatically control every asset the person owned. First determine which property follows a beneficiary arrangement, survivorship title, trust, or a separate homestead rule. Florida probate guidance can help sort the assets and the process needed to transfer them.
Intestacy is a transfer rule, not an asset list
An account held in one person’s name with no valid beneficiary route may need probate. An account with a valid payable-on-death beneficiary may follow that arrangement instead. Check the records. A family may recall wishes that do not match them.
The Florida Bar’s probate guide explains the distinction between probate and nonprobate assets. Trust property and property held with survivorship rights may follow separate rules. Do not take a share of the family’s estimate of all the person owned. First check what belongs in that calculation.
For a useful record-by-record approach, see our guide to asset transfer arrangements. After a death, the task is to establish the arrangement already in place, not to change the deceased owner’s choices.
Read both sides of the family tree
“Descendants” can include children and later generations. These rules concern the deceased person’s intestate estate, not every asset or every family protection.
| Family circumstances | Spouse's share |
|---|---|
| The deceased person has no surviving descendants. | All of the intestate estate. |
| The deceased person has surviving descendants, all of whom are also the spouse's descendants, and the spouse has no other descendants. | All of the intestate estate. |
| The deceased person has at least one surviving descendant who is not also the spouse's descendant. | One-half of the intestate estate. |
| The deceased person has surviving descendants, all shared with the spouse, but the spouse has another descendant. | One-half of the intestate estate. |
Source: Florida Statutes §732.102. General intestate-share rules only. This is not a calculation for homestead, elective share, exempt property, family allowance, or nonprobate assets.
Who receives the balance?
Under §732.103, the part not passing to the spouse goes first to the deceased person’s descendants. That group may include descendants shared with the spouse as well as those from another relationship.
If there is no surviving spouse, the descendants generally receive the intestate estate. If there is neither a surviving spouse nor any descendants, parents come next, followed by siblings and descendants of deceased siblings. The statute provides further routes for more remote relatives when those groups are absent.
Florida’s per stirpes rule distributes shares by family branch. A deceased child’s surviving descendants may take through that child’s branch. It is not always a simple equal division among everyone still living.
A person dies with no spouse. One child survives. Another child died earlier and left two surviving children. Assume no other facts change the general rule.
The surviving child takes one-half. The deceased child’s branch takes the other half, divided between those two children. Each takes one-quarter.
Adoption and earlier deaths may affect the family tree. Legal parentage can matter too. Do not leave someone out because they are distant, estranged, or unknown to one family member. Likewise, being an unmarried partner or a close friend does not itself create the same intestate rights as being a spouse.
A Florida home needs its own analysis
Florida homestead can follow different rules. Under §732.401, when the specified conditions apply and a spouse and descendants survive, the spouse may receive a life estate with the remainder going to descendants. The statute also provides an alternative election for the spouse.
That election has a deadline and consequences. Review the deed, the home’s legal status, and the family’s facts. Do not assume one person owns the whole home or can sell it alone.
Other legal rights of the family may also matter. An intestate-share chart is a starting point, not a complete calculation of what each person will receive after claims, expenses, and applicable rights are addressed.
Turn family knowledge into usable records
Gather the death certificate and any possible will or changes to it. Find account records and real estate deeds. Check who owns each asset and who is named to receive it. Do not decide that there is no will merely because it was not in the first folder you found.
Build a family list with names, relationships, contact details, and dates of earlier deaths. Include the surviving spouse’s separate descendants when that fact may affect the share. Flag uncertainty about marriage, divorce, adoption, or parentage rather than guessing.
Identify any court papers or notices already received. Being an heir does not by itself give someone authority to withdraw an account, sign a deed for the estate, or distribute property. Ask which proceeding and court authority are needed.
Also clarify whom any lawyer represents. The personal representative’s lawyer is not automatically each heir’s lawyer. Our guide to choosing probate counsel explains why client identity matters.
Start with the facts
Contact Katz & Associates with the records you have and any known deadline. A careful review can identify which inheritance rules and probate steps apply.
Common questions
No. The family relationships in §732.102 can produce a half share instead. Homestead and other rights need separate review.
Not simply because there is no will. Florida law identifies heirs through a sequence of family relationships, including more remote routes. Do not assume that no close relative means no legal heir.
Planning can allow choices within legal limits. See what a Florida will can address, and coordinate it with beneficiary records, property titles, and family protections.
About the author
By Katz & Associates. Published by Katz & Associates Law Firm.
This is general information, not a determination of heirship or anyone’s share.
Sources checked October 26, 2026. The family-branch example is hypothetical, not a client result.
