What You Need to Know About Virginia Intestate
In Virginia, dying without a will leads to intestate succession laws, which dictate who inherits one’s possessions and money after their death. Here’s everything you need to know about Intestate Succession: Dying Without a Will in Virginia.
A will determines where an individual’s assets and properties will go after death. If an individual dies without a will, their assets qualify for intestate succession. If an individual dies without a will, specific Virginia succession laws dictate where a person’s valuable items go.
Virginia Intestate Laws
Virginia laws state a deceased individual’s spouse will receive one-third of their estate, and two-thirds go to their children if the decedent does not have a will. If the decedent does not have any children, their spouse inherits everything. If the decedent does not have a spouse, their children inherit all the assets.
If the decedent does not have a spouse or children, their parents will inherit all their assets and properties. If the decedent has no spouse, children, or parents but has surviving siblings, the siblings will inherit everything.
Disadvantages of Dying Without a Will
Dying without a will simply means a person cannot express their desires for who should inherit their assets and properties. Virginia law directly dictates the inheritance process through intestate succession. Moreover, the decedent cannot nominate who they want to serve as the representative of their estate, who they deem in charge of selling their properties.
Having a designated representative of an estate is essential because the person has a critical role in managing the decedent’s affairs immediately after their death. The person who fulfills the role may be a family member or a professional. Unfortunately, many people in Virginia do not draft their wills before death.
Important Virginia Succession Rules
A potential inheritor must qualify under Virginia’s intestate laws to gain a decedent’s assets and properties if they die without a will.
The potential recipient must meet the following criteria for Virginia to approve intestate succession:
- Completes a sponsorship period where the inheriting individual must outlive the decedent by 120 hours,
- Half-relatives only inherit half as much as a fully biological relative would,
- Relatives conceived before the person died, but are born after the death, inherit as much as they would have if they were alive when the decedent died, and
- Relatives receive inheritance whether or not they are U.S. citizens.
FAQs on Virginia Intestate Succession: Dying Without a Will in VA
Who counts as children in a Virginia intestate succession?
Virginia intestate succession laws equally consider adopted and biological children. However, foster children, step-children, grandchildren, and children the decedent put up for adoption do not acquire any assets if the individual dies without a will.
Can Virginia gain all of a decedent’s assets?
If an individual has no spouse, biological relatives, or adopted children, Virginia may gain their assets after death. However, Virginia laws have many stipulations, so this seldom occurs.
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