What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Delaware?

If you die without children in Delaware, your surviving spouse inherits your entire estate. Your parents, siblings, and other relatives receive nothing. This is the simplest intestacy scenario, but it highlights why having a will matters—if you want to leave anything to parents, siblings, or charity, you must do so in a will or trust.

When you have children from a prior relationship in Delaware: Cash and investments: first $50,000 plus 1/2 of the rest. Real estate: spouse can live there for life, but children own it. Blended families often have the most to gain from estate planning, as intestacy rules may not reflect your actual wishes for how to provide for both your spouse and children from different relationships.

Delaware requires heirs to survive you by 120 hours (5 days) to inherit. If an heir dies within this window, they're treated as having died before you, and their share passes to the next eligible heirs. This prevents the complication of assets passing through multiple estates when family members die close together—such as in an accident or during a shared illness. The 5-day period gives time for the situation to stabilize before determining who ultimately inherits.

Delaware uses "per stirpes" distribution, meaning descendants step into their deceased ancestor's shoes. If one of your children dies before you, their children (your grandchildren) collectively inherit what their parent would have received. They split their parent's share among themselves, regardless of how many children your other surviving children have. This keeps family branches intact—each branch of the family tree receives the same total share, even if one branch has more descendants than another.

Delaware's intestacy laws are codified in 12 Del. C. § 502. These statutes define exactly who inherits and in what proportions when someone dies without a valid will. The rules can change through legislative action, so anyone relying on intestacy should verify current law. More importantly, these default rules rarely match what people actually want—creating a will or trust lets you choose your beneficiaries rather than letting the state decide for you.