How is the Estate of a person Without a Will Divided in Virginia?
Full Question:
Answer:
An intestate estate is any part of the estate of a decedent not effectively disposed of by his will, which passes to his heirs as prescribed in the applicable state's laws of intestate succession. The estate of a decedent who dies intestate is distributed according to the intestacy laws where the decedent was domiciled and/or where the decedent owned real property. Under the intestate laws of succession, the spouse and heirs will receive property by the laws of descent and distribution and marital rights in the estate which may apply to a surviving spouse. Each state has an intestacy law which specifies who is to inherit property in the absence of a will. If a person dies without a will, the probate court will appoint a personal representative (or administrator) for his or her estate to receive creditors' claims against the estate, pay debts, and distribute the deceased person’s remaining property according to state laws. Certain assets are not included as part of a person's estate and may pass outside of probate, such as trust assets and transfer on death accounts or property owned by joint tenants which passes under a right of survivorship when one tenant dies.
Please see the following VA statute:
§ 64.1-1. Course of descents generally. —
When any person having title to any real estate of inheritance shall
die intestate as to such estate, it shall descend and pass in parcenary
to such of his kindred, male and female, in the following course:
First. To the surviving spouse of the intestate, unless the intestate
is survived by children or their descendants, one or more of whom are not
children or their descendants of the surviving spouse, in which case
two-thirds of such estate shall pass to all the intestate's children and
their descendants and the remaining one-third of such estate shall pass
to the intestate's surviving spouse.
Second. If there be no surviving spouse, then the whole shall go to all
the intestate's children and their descendants.
Third. If there be none such, then to his or her father and mother or
the survivor.
Fourth. If there be none such, then to his or her brothers and
sisters, and their descendants.
Fifth. If there be none such, then one moiety shall go to the
paternal, the other to the maternal kindred, of the intestate, in the
following course:
Sixth. First to the grandfather and grandmother or the survivor.
Seventh. If there be none, then to the uncles and aunts, and their
descendants.
Eighth. If there be none such, then to the great grandfathers or great
grandfather, and great grandmothers or great grandmother.
Ninth. If there be none, then to the brothers and sisters of the
grandfathers and grandmothers, and their descendants.
Tenth. And so on, in other cases, without end, passing to the nearest
lineal ancestors, and the descendants of such ancestors.
Eleventh. If there be no paternal kindred the whole shall go to the
maternal kindred; and if there be no maternal kindred, the whole shall go
to the paternal kindred. If there be neither maternal nor paternal
kindred, the whole shall go to the kindred of the husband or wife, in the
like course as if such husband or wife had died entitled to the estate.