Traditional Family Estate Distributions

After fifty years of marriage Ward passes away with a $500,000 intestate estate, of which $100,000 is real estate. He is survived by his wife, June, and their two adult children.
 
This table shows the amount of Ward's individually owned property that each of his three family members will receive according to the intestate laws of each state.
 
If a separate figure is not shown for real estate, it is included with all other property for division. Where shown, "LE" indicates that a life-estate is granted in that property.
 
Note that only sixteen of the states listed below give the surviving spouse all of the deceased spouse's property in these family circumstances.

You can also compare these figures with those of a Blended Family or use the interactive State Summaries program to see similarities between states.
 
Note that, like the Intestacy Calculators™, these figures do not include any amounts that may be granted as a "family allowance" or "homestead allowance."
 
For instance, Pennsylvania provides a spouse, child, or parent who was living with the decedent at the time of death with the right to claim $3,500 of the decedent's estate.
 
These amounts are not included with any calculations, as they are often elective and not always certain. Unlike the intestate distribution, additional action is frequently required within a specific time period to assert the claim to these rights.
 
Also note that community property is not included with this comparison, although it has been included in the individual Intestacy Calculators for those states that distribute community property between the spouse and others in a manner that differs from the distribution of individually owned property.