Most people know they should have a will, but plenty of estates in Montgomery still end up in probate without one. When that happens, Alabama’s intestate succession statutes take over completely, and the results often surprise families who assumed things would simply go to whoever seemed like the obvious choice.
When someone dies without a valid will, Alabama Code Section 43-8-41 sets out exactly how a surviving spouse’s share gets calculated, and separate provisions cover what happens to the rest of the estate. These rules apply the same way in every case, regardless of what the family might have actually wanted or discussed informally before the death.
The surviving spouse’s inheritance depends heavily on who else survives the deceased person.
These thresholds surprise a lot of people who assumed a spouse automatically inherits everything.
If there is no surviving spouse, the estate passes to the deceased person’s children in equal shares, regardless of the children’s individual circumstances or relationship with the deceased. An estranged child receives exactly the same share as one who provided daily care in the final years of life, since the statute makes no distinction based on those kinds of factors.
Stepchildren who were never formally adopted receive nothing under Alabama’s intestate succession rules, even after decades of being raised as part of the family. Unmarried partners face the same outcome, since Alabama law does not recognize inheritance rights for a partner who was never legally married to the deceased. Bachus, Brom & Taylor, LLC sees these gaps catch a lot of blended and nontraditional families off guard.
Administering an intestate estate typically takes longer than one with a will already in place. The court has to appoint an administrator rather than confirming someone the deceased person already chose, and that appointment process itself can add weeks to a timeline that families are often hoping to move through quickly. A Montgomery probate lawyer can walk a family through exactly how these default rules apply to their specific situation and what steps come next in the administration process.
It is easy to assume intestate succession rules only matter for large or complicated estates, but the same statutes apply regardless of size. A modest home and a few accounts can still end up divided in ways nobody intended, simply because no will existed to say otherwise. Anyone facing probate in Montgomery without a will can speak with a Montgomery probate lawyer to understand how the estate will actually be divided under state law.
