What happens if you die without a will in Washington State?

Did you know that if you die without a will, a revocable trust, or some other means to pass your assets upon death, they will be distributed to your relatives under the Washington State laws of intestacy?

Under those laws, if you are married your spouse gets all of the community property. Your spouse will also get some portion of your separate property. How much your spouse receivers depends on your family situation.

If you are not married, your children or their descendants split all of your property.

If any of your children or their descendants are still living, they get half of your separate property and your spouse receives the other half.

If you don’t have any living descendants, but one or both of your parents, or any of your siblings, or their descendants, is still alive, your spouse’s share becomes three-quarters and the other quarter is split amongst your family.

If you are not married, your children or their descendants split all of your property. If you don’t have children, of if none of your children or their descendants is still living, then your assets go to your surviving parents or their descendants. If none of them is living, then to your grandparents, if any of them is still living, to be split one-half to your father’s side and one-half to your mother’s side. If a set of grandparents are both dead, then that share goes to their descendants.

While intestacy may distribute your property the way you want, there are some definite reasons to put your wishes in writing. One reason is that under intestacy you don’t get to choose who manages the process of distributing your assets. Another reason not to rely on intestacy is that property left to a person under 18 will almost certainly result in a court-supervised trust. A third reason is that, if your property passes to someone on Medicaid or some other needs-based government benefits, your gift may disqualify them from those benefits because they now have too many assets to qualify.

Stephen King

The Eastside’s Estate Planning Attorney

Talis Law PLLC is a small Estate Planning firm on the Eastside. We work with people to help them understand what goes on during the estate planning and the probate process. Our firm offers flat fee services so clients feel comfortable asking the questions they need to understand what their documents mean, and what the process does.

Disclosure: While I am a lawyer, I am not offering legal advice. Posts on legal matters are intended to provide legal information and do not create an attorney/client relationship.