Alaska Intestate Succession

When someone dies without a valid will, Alaska law picks the heirs to the Alaska estate, and the surviving spouse comes first. The spouse takes the whole estate when no descendant and no parent survives. The spouse also takes everything when every surviving child or grandchild is the spouse's too and the spouse has no other descendant.

Everywhere else the spouse takes a first-dollar amount plus a fraction of the rest. It is $200,000 plus three-fourths when a parent survives and no descendant does. It is $150,000 plus one-half when every child is shared but the spouse also has a child from another relationship. It is $100,000 plus one-half when the person who died has a child who is not the spouse's. The Alaska inheritance calculator works the shares out for one family.

Every one of those spouse rules assumes the couple did not sign a community property agreement or trust. Alaska lets married couples opt in to community property, and where they did, the agreement controls the property it covers.

Here is how we sourced this page. The Alaska Statutes are published only by the Alaska Legislature, whose website refused our research tool access on September 28, 2026. So every rule below comes from the Alaska Court System, the court that applies these statutes, as its self-help pages and forms stated them on that date. We give no statute section number for a rule unless a Court System page or form prints one.

This page answers the distribution question: who gets what. For how an Alaska estate is opened, run and closed, read the Alaska probate process.

What Alaska Intestacy Reaches

A person who dies without a valid will has died "intestate." The Court System's intestacy page also covers partial intestacy: when a will gives away only some of the property, the rest passes under these rules.

The probate work is the same either way. The personal representative still pays the allowances and exempt property, pays creditor claims, and then transfers what is left to the people entitled to it. The one difference is that Alaska law, not a will, names those people. Before assuming there is no will, check the places people keep them.

Property that names its own taker never reaches these rules

The Court System calls property that passes automatically at death "nonprobate property." It never reaches the intestate estate. Common examples:

a bank account held jointly with a right of survivorship
life insurance and retirement benefits with a named beneficiary
real property covered by a recorded transfer on death deed
real property held by spouses as tenants by the entirety
property held as Alaska community property with a right of survivorship
property already held by a trustee in a trust

The same kind of asset can land on either side. A checking account in the name of the person who died alone is probate property. The same account held jointly with a right of survivorship goes straight to the co-owner.

Community property changes what the spouse already owns

Alaska is not a community property state by default. The Court System's glossary explains that spouses can choose to hold property as community property by signing a special agreement or trust under the Alaska Community Property Act. Each spouse then owns half. The couple can agree that at the first death the other half passes automatically to the survivor, or that it passes through probate.

So read the spouse chart below as covering only property the couple did not bring under such an agreement or trust. Where one exists, ask for a copy before dividing anything.

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The Court System's chart runs these rows. Find the first one that fits the family.

Who else survives	Surviving spouse receives	Others receive
No descendant and no parent	Everything	Nothing
Descendants, all of whom are also the spouse's, and the spouse has no other descendant	Everything	Nothing
Descendants, all of whom are also the spouse's, but the spouse has a descendant from another relationship	$150,000 plus one-half of the balance	Descendants take one-half of the balance
One or more descendants who are not the spouse's	$100,000 plus one-half of the balance	Descendants take one-half of the balance
No descendant, and both parents	$200,000 plus three-fourths of the balance	Each parent takes one-eighth of the balance
No descendant, and one parent	$200,000 plus three-fourths of the balance	The parent takes one-fourth of the balance

All of these assume the couple signed no community property agreement or trust.

Five families, one $500,000 estate

Let's break it down with numbers. Take a $500,000 intestate estate, measured after the personal representative pays the allowances, exempt property and creditor claims. A husband dies and his wife survives.

Two children of the marriage, and the wife has no other children. The wife takes the whole $500,000. The children take nothing from the probate estate. Many families expect the children to share, and in Alaska they do not.
Same family, but the wife also has a son from an earlier marriage. The wife takes $150,000 plus half of the remaining $350,000, which is $325,000. The two children of the marriage divide $175,000.
Same family, but the husband also has a daughter from an earlier marriage. The wife takes $100,000 plus half of the remaining $400,000, which is $300,000. The husband's three children divide $200,000.
No children at all, and both of the husband's parents survive. The wife takes $200,000 plus three-fourths of the remaining $300,000, which is $425,000. Each parent takes one-eighth of $300,000, or $37,500.
No children, and only the husband's mother survives. The wife again takes $425,000, and the mother takes one-fourth of $300,000, or $75,000.

The pattern follows who the survivor will pass property to later. When every child is shared and the spouse has no one else, the children should reach the property through the spouse, so the spouse takes it all. When either partner has children outside the marriage, the chart sets aside a share for the children now.

Why these figures differ from what you may have read

Several other Uniform Probate Code states print larger spouse figures, such as $300,000, $225,000 and $150,000, because they adjust them for inflation. The Alaska Court System states $200,000, $150,000 and $100,000, and says nothing about an adjustment. Use the Alaska figures for an Alaska estate, and check the Court System's intestacy page again before dividing one, in case it changes.

A spouse may take more than the chart

When the person who died left little probate property, the surviving spouse may be entitled to more than the intestate share through the elective share, which reaches nonprobate property as well. Three other amounts come on top of it. For those rules and figures, read what the surviving spouse can claim.

Who counts as a spouse

A spouse means a legally married spouse. The Alaska Department of Health's page for ordering birth, death and marriage records says it plainly: "There is no common law marriage in Alaska." A partner who lived with the person who died takes nothing under the spouse chart, no matter how long they lived together.

How The Rest Of The Estate Divides

Whatever the spouse does not take, or the whole estate when no spouse survives, runs down this ladder. Stop at the first step with a living heir.

Descendants (children, grandchildren and so on) take everything, by representation.
Parents. If both survive, each takes one-half. If only one survives, that parent takes everything.
The parents' descendants (brothers and sisters, then nieces and nephews) take everything.
Grandparents, split half to the father's side and half to the mother's side. On each side, each grandparent takes one-fourth of the estate if both survive, and one grandparent alone takes that side's half. Where the grandparents on a side have died, their descendants (aunts, uncles and cousins) take that side's half. If one side has no one left, the other side takes everything.
The State of Alaska takes the estate only when no one on this list survives.

Representation, and the part the Court System does not spell out

Descendants take "by representation." The Court System's glossary explains it with an example: when some of the children died first but left children of their own, the surviving children and the grandchildren of the deceased children share the estate together.

The glossary adds that working out the exact share "can be complicated." It does not say how the pieces divide when heirs sit in different generations, and the statute text is closed to us. If any heir died before the person who died and left descendants, have an Alaska probate lawyer work out the fractions before anyone is paid.

When the estate goes to the State

The Court System says property passes to the State of Alaska only when no spouse, descendant, parent, descendant of a parent, grandparent or descendant of a grandparent survives. It adds that an heir who thinks property wrongly passed to the State may be able to get it back by acting promptly. Talk to a probate lawyer right away if that happens.

Who Counts As An Heir

The Court System's intestacy page answers the questions families ask most.

Half blood counts in full. A half brother or half sister inherits the same share as a relative of the whole blood.

Step and foster relatives do not inherit. Stepparents, stepchildren and stepsiblings take nothing without a will, "even if the stepfamily lived together for a long time." Foster children, foster parents, grandparents who raised their grandchildren, and other relatives acting as surrogates are not heirs either.

Citizenship does not matter. A person who is not a U.S. citizen has the same right to inherit as a citizen.

Adoption. An adopted person inherits from the adoptive parents, not the natural parents. The exception is a stepparent adoption: a person adopted by a natural parent's spouse, and that person's descendants, can inherit from both natural parents and the adoptive parent. A natural parent and that parent's relatives inherit from the adopted person only if the natural parent openly treated the child as their own and did not refuse to support the child.

Parents' marital status does not matter. A child is an heir of the natural parents whether or not they were married, unless an adoption made the child an heir of the adoptive parents instead.

A child born after the death. A child conceived before the death but born after it is an heir if the child lives 120 hours after birth.

An heir related twice takes once. A person related to the person who died in two ways inherits only through the relationship that gives the larger share.

Every heir must outlive the person who died by five days

The Court System's glossary defines an heir as a person with the right to inherit who survives the person who died by five days. An heir who dies sooner inherits nothing. The same five-day rule applies to people named in a will unless the will says otherwise. This matters most when two family members die in the same accident or within a few days of each other.

Lifetime Gifts And Debts Owed To The Estate

A lifetime gift usually does not reduce a share. The heir keeps the gift and still inherits. The Court System lists two exceptions: the person who died said in writing when making the gift that it should reduce the heir's share, or the heir agreed in writing, even later, that it should. A gift that counts is valued when the heir received it or at the death, whichever came first. It does not reduce a share passing by representation.

A debt the heir owed does reduce the share. If a child borrowed from a parent and never repaid the loan, the child's share shrinks by the unpaid amount. If the indebted heir died first, the debt does not reduce the share that passes to that heir's descendants by representation.

Two Kinds Of Alaska Native Property Follow Their Own Rules

ANCSA Native corporation stock

Stock issued by a Native corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act passes in this order, according to the Court System:

a "stock will": the blanks on the back of the stock certificate, filled in, signed, dated and notarized, or the Native corporation's own testamentary form
if neither exists, an ordinary will
if there is no will of any kind:
- a surviving spouse and no descendants: all to the spouse
- a surviving spouse and descendants: half to the spouse and half to the descendants
- no surviving spouse: ordinary Alaska intestacy rules

Notice how the stock rule differs from the general chart. A spouse whose children are all shared takes the whole general estate but only half the stock. The transfer does not happen on its own either: the Native corporation must take part.

Restricted Native allotments and townsite lots

Restricted property is land the Secretary of the Interior granted to Native Alaskans as a Native allotment or a townsite lot. The Court System says it passes only through a special Bureau of Indian Affairs probate handled by a federal law judge, and "does not pass through the Alaska probate court." Do not list it in an Alaska Superior Court probate.

Alaska intestacy law can still decide who takes it. The Court System explains that when a will does not meet the federal judge's requirements, the restricted property passes to the heirs under Alaska intestacy law in the BIA probate.

Getting An Intestate Alaska Estate Settled

The chart names the heirs. Somebody still has to collect the property and hand it over.

The affidavit route for a small estate

Many intestate estates never need a court case. The Court System's page on collecting personal property without a court case, and AS 13.16.680 as reproduced in its form P-110 (4/17), allow a successor to collect the property with an affidavit when all of these are true:

at least 30 days have passed since the death
no one has started a probate case or asked the court to appoint a personal representative
the person who died owned no real property, "no matter how small the value," unless it passed automatically as tenants by the entirety or under a transfer on death deed
all Alaska-registered vehicles total $100,000 or less after liens
all other personal property totals $50,000 or less after liens

Those are two separate caps. $120,000 of trucks and $10,000 in a bank account fails the vehicle cap even though the total sits under $150,000. Any person with a right to the property other than a creditor can sign as the successor, which is where the shares on this page come in. For the full test, see collecting a small estate without probate.

Opening a probate case

When the affidavit does not fit, the Court System says most no-will cases use the informal process. It works when all interested persons agree on who should be personal representative and that there is no valid will. If they disagree, the case goes through the formal process instead. The filing fee for a probate estate case is $250, and a fee waiver request is available.

The court will not appoint a personal representative right away. For an Alaska resident, the wait is 5 days after the death. For a nonresident, it is 30 days, or 5 days if the will chooses Alaska law or the applicant was already appointed in another state. Someone with equal or higher priority to serve can step aside by signing a nomination on form P-306. For what the job involves once you are appointed, read about who serves as personal representative and the duties that come with it.

If you would rather choose the outcome yourself than accept the chart, making a valid Alaska will covers witnesses, handwritten wills and signing.

Rules We Could Not Confirm From An Official Source

Some intestacy questions are answered only in the text of the Alaska Statutes, which we could not read, and the Court System's pages do not address them. We say so here rather than guess:

how a share divides by representation when the heirs sit in different generations
whether a person who kills the person who died loses the right to inherit, and how
how a divorce affects a will or a beneficiary designation
whether the spouse's dollar figures are adjusted over time

Put any of these in front of an Alaska probate lawyer before relying on an answer.

When To Talk To An Alaska Lawyer

Many intestate Alaska estates divide straight off the Court System's chart. Next steps: bring in a licensed Alaska attorney in any of these situations:

either spouse has a child from another relationship, so the $150,000 or $100,000 row applies
the couple signed a community property agreement or trust
an heir died before the person who died and left children, so representation decides the fractions
two family members died within five days of each other
the estate holds ANCSA stock or a restricted Native allotment or townsite lot
someone claims the person who died was their spouse without a marriage license
a lifetime gift is claimed to reduce a share and the writing is missing or unclear
property passed to the State of Alaska and a relative wants it back

This page organizes the Court System's statements of Alaska's intestacy rules and the questions worth asking. Confirm anything that decides a particular estate with the Superior Court handling it or with a licensed Alaska attorney.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who inherits if there is no will in Alaska?

The Alaska Court System's intestacy chart pays the surviving spouse first. The spouse takes everything when no descendant or parent survives, or when every surviving descendant is also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendant. Otherwise the spouse takes $150,000 plus half of the balance (the spouse has a descendant from another relationship), $100,000 plus half (the person who died has a descendant who is not the spouse's), or $200,000 plus three-fourths (no descendant, but a parent survives). With no spouse, the estate goes to descendants, then parents, then the parents' descendants, then grandparents and their descendants, and finally to the State of Alaska. These shares assume the couple did not sign a community property agreement or trust.

Are the Alaska spouse figures $300,000, $225,000 and $150,000?

No. Those are the inflation-adjusted Uniform Probate Code figures some other states use. The Alaska Court System states $200,000 when a parent survives, $150,000 when the spouse has a descendant from another relationship, and $100,000 when the person who died has a descendant who is not the spouse's, each plus a fraction of the balance.

Do stepchildren inherit in Alaska without a will?

No. The Court System says stepparents, stepchildren and stepsiblings do not inherit when there is no will, no matter how long the family lived together. Foster children, foster parents and grandparents who raised a grandchild are not heirs either. A will, a beneficiary designation or a transfer on death deed is the way to leave them property.

Do half brothers and half sisters inherit in Alaska?

Yes. The Court System says a relative of the half blood inherits the same share they would receive as a relative of the whole blood. A half sister and a full brother take equal shares.

Who inherits Native corporation stock if there is no will?

Stock issued under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act first follows a stock will on the certificate or the corporation's own testamentary form, then an ordinary will. With none of those, a surviving spouse and no descendants means all to the spouse, and a spouse and descendants means half to each. With no spouse, ordinary Alaska intestacy rules apply. The Native corporation must take part in the transfer.

When does an Alaska estate go to the State?

Only when no spouse, descendant, parent, descendant of a parent, grandparent or descendant of a grandparent survives. The Court System says an heir who believes property wrongly passed to the State may be able to get it back by acting promptly.

Sources:

Title: Death Without a Will - Intestacy. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/intestacy.htm
Title: Glossary of Probate Terms. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/glossary.htm
Title: Transferring Ownership of Assets. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/transferring-assets.htm
Title: Collecting Personal Property without a Court Case. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/affidavit.htm
Title: Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of Decedent, form P-110, reproducing AS 13.16.680. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Revised 4/17. URL: https://public.courts.alaska.gov/web/forms/docs/p-110.pdf
Title: Informal Probate. Publisher: Alaska Court System. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://courts.alaska.gov/shc/probate/informal.htm
Title: Vital Records Orders. Publisher: Alaska Department of Health, Health Analytics and Vital Records. Publication Date: Not listed (accessed 2026-09-28). URL: https://health.alaska.gov/en/services/vital-records-orders/

It is not legal advice.