What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Georgia?

If you die without children in Georgia, 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 Georgia: Spouse splits equally with children, but always gets at least 1/3 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.

Unlike most states, Georgia has no survival period requirement. An heir can inherit even if they die moments after you. This can lead to property passing through multiple estates in rapid succession—for example, if you and your spouse die in the same accident, your assets could pass to your spouse's estate and then immediately to your spouse's heirs, potentially cutting out your side of the family entirely. A will with a survival clause (requiring heirs to survive you by 30-120 days) can prevent this outcome.

Georgia 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.

Georgia's intestacy laws are codified in O.C.G.A. § 53-2-1. 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.