Also known as: inordinati · intestate
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An individual who dies without having made a valid will. The term historically denoted the condition of dying intestate and triggered statutory rules for distribution of the estate to surviving heirs.
After Ira Irving died without a will, survived by his spouse and two children, the probate court applied the representation rule to allocate the remaining estate to the children after the spouse's share. The children each received equal portions of the balance.
When Ines Ibarra died intestate, ownership of her farmland transferred directly to her heirs by operation of law under the probate code. No deed from her estate was required to perfect the children's title.
Ilana Isaacs sought to inherit from her deceased father who died intestate. Because a court had established paternity while he lived, the state permitted her claim under the intestacy statute.
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Imran Iyer died intestate survived only by his spouse and no parents or descendants. The court awarded the entire estate to the surviving spouse under the applicable intestacy formula.
Ismael Ibrahim's nonmarital child claimed a share of his intestate estate. The court rejected an absolute bar on such inheritance and allowed the child to take under equal-protection principles.
Idris Ives died intestate with no surviving spouse. The court distributed the entire estate by representation to his surviving descendants under the default intestacy provisions.
The estate passes according to the jurisdiction's intestacy statute rather than by will. Surviving spouses and descendants typically receive priority shares under formulas such as those in the Uniform Probate Code.
Supporting sources
No. The spouse receives the entire estate only when the decedent leaves no surviving descendants or parents, or when all surviving descendants are also descendants of the spouse and the spouse has no other surviving descendants.
Supporting sources
States may not impose an absolute bar on inheritance by nonmarital children. Requirements such as establishing paternity during the father's lifetime are permissible if substantially related to orderly estate administration.
Supporting sources
…assume and cancel it. Whipple accepted the deed; the mortgage was subsequently assigned and the note indorsed to the plaintiff's intestate. Whipple paid interest for a time and, upon refusing to continue, was sued by the administratrix of the assignee. The court held that the stipulation in the deed was a matter exclusively…