What is intestate succession?

What will be an ideal response?

If a person dies without a will or trust—that is, intestate—or if his or her will or trust fails for some legal reason, the property is distributed to his or her relatives pursuant to a state's intestacy statute. Relatives who receive property under intestacy statutes are called heirs. Although intestacy statutes differ from state to state, the general rule is that the deceased's real property is distributed according to the intestacy statute of the state where the real property is located, and the deceased's personal property is distributed according to the intestacy statute of the state where the deceased had his or her permanent residence. Intestacy statutes usually leave the deceased's property to his or her heirs in this order: spouse, children, lineal heirs, collateral heirs, and other next of kin. If the deceased has no surviving relatives, then the deceased's property escheats to the state. In-laws do not inherit under most intestacy statutes.