Pennsylvania Intestate Succession: Who Inherits Without a Will

When someone dies in Pennsylvania without a valid will, state law decides who inherits. That set of rules is called intestate succession. The decedent does not get to name heirs because there is no document naming them, so the Pennsylvania Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code fills the gap. The governing rules sit in Title 20, Chapter 21 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (20 Pa.C.S. §§ 2101 through 2114).

This guide walks through who inherits, in what shares, and the exact dollar figures Pennsylvania uses for a surviving spouse. If you are settling an estate, pair this with the Pennsylvania probate guide and the Pennsylvania probate timeline so you can see how the heir question fits into the wider process.

What Intestate Succession Means

Intestate means dying without a will. Partial intestacy happens when a will exists but does not cover every asset. In both cases, the property that no valid will controls passes to the decedent's heirs under Chapter 21. Section 2101 states that any part of a Pennsylvania estate not disposed of by will passes to the heirs as prescribed in that chapter.

A few points shape everything that follows:

• Pennsylvania law, not the family, sets the shares. Heirs cannot vote to change the split, though they can sometimes agree to a different division by private agreement after the fact.
• The rules look at relationships at the date of death.
• A personal representative still has to open an estate with the Register of Wills and administer it. No will does not mean no probate.

When there is no will, the court appoints an administrator instead of an executor. The administration steps are similar either way, which is why the Pennsylvania probate guide applies to intestate estates too.

What Passes by Intestacy and What Does Not

Intestate succession only governs the probate estate. Many assets transfer outside probate by their own terms and never reach the Chapter 21 rules:

• Joint accounts and joint real estate with right of survivorship (JTWROS). Title passes to the surviving co-owner automatically. Property held by spouses as tenants by the entireties passes the same way.
• Payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) accounts. The named beneficiary collects directly from the institution.
• Beneficiary designations. Life insurance, retirement accounts, IRAs, and annuities pay the beneficiary on the form, not the estate.
• Trust assets. Property already titled in a living trust passes under the trust terms.

Only what is left over, the assets titled in the decedent's name alone with no beneficiary, becomes the intestate estate that Chapter 21 divides. Because of this, two people who die without a will can produce very different results depending on how their accounts were titled. The guide to avoiding probate in Pennsylvania covers these non-probate transfers in more detail.

The Surviving Spouse's Share

Pennsylvania gives the surviving spouse a defined share that depends on who else survives. Section 2102 sets four scenarios, and the $30,000 figure appears in two of them.

Spouse and no issue and no parents

If the decedent leaves no surviving issue (children, grandchildren, and so on down the line) and no surviving parent, the surviving spouse takes the entire intestate estate (20 Pa.C.S. § 2102(1)).

Spouse and surviving parent but no issue

If there is no surviving issue but the decedent is survived by a parent or parents, the surviving spouse takes the first $30,000 plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate (20 Pa.C.S. § 2102(2)). The surviving parent or parents take the rest. A surviving spouse does not automatically take everything when a parent is alive and there are no children.

Spouse and shared children only

If all of the decedent's surviving issue are also issue of the surviving spouse, the spouse takes the first $30,000 plus one-half of the balance (20 Pa.C.S. § 2102(3)). The children share the remaining half.

Spouse and children from another relationship

If one or more of the decedent's surviving issue are not also issue of the surviving spouse, the spouse takes one-half of the intestate estate, with no $30,000 preferential amount (20 Pa.C.S. § 2102(4)). The children split the other half. This is the scenario where stepfamily situations change the math, so confirm the parentage of each child before distributing.

Here is the spouse share at a glance:

One more rule covers partial intestacy. If the will leaves some property to the surviving spouse, that property counts against the $30,000 allowance pro tanto, meaning to the extent of what was already received (20 Pa.C.S. § 2102).

Who Inherits When There Is No Spouse

When no spouse survives, or after the spouse's share is set aside, Section 2103 sends the rest of the estate down a fixed order. Each level inherits only if no one in a closer level survives:

1. Issue of the decedent. Children first, with deceased children represented by their own descendants (20 Pa.C.S. § 2103(1)).
2. Parents. If no issue survive, the estate goes to the parent or parents (20 Pa.C.S. § 2103(2)).
3. Brothers, sisters, and their issue. If no parent survives, the estate passes to the issue of each of the decedent's parents, which means siblings and, by representation, nieces and nephews (20 Pa.C.S. § 2103(3)).
4. Grandparents. If no sibling line survives, the estate splits between the paternal and maternal sides through the grandparents and their descendants (20 Pa.C.S. § 2103(4)).
5. Uncles, aunts, and their children and grandchildren. If no grandparent survives (20 Pa.C.S. § 2103(5)).
6. The Commonwealth or a community fund. If no relative described above survives, the estate escheats under the rules in Section 2103(6). Property reaching this stage is rare, but it happens when no qualifying relatives can be found.

The order is strict. A surviving child cuts off siblings, parents, and everyone below. Cousins inherit only when nearly the entire family tree above them is gone.

Per Stirpes and Representation

Pennsylvania divides shares within a level using representation, often called per stirpes. Section 2104(1) says that when heirs are in different degrees of kinship, one equal share passes to each living person in the nearest degree, and one equal share passes by representation to the issue of each deceased person in that degree.

A plain example: a decedent has three children, and one child died first leaving two children of their own (the decedent's grandchildren). The estate splits into three equal shares. The two surviving children take one share each. The two grandchildren split the deceased child's one-third share, so each grandchild takes one-sixth.

Two limits matter inside this rule:

• Among collateral relatives, representation does not run forever. Section 2104 cuts off the line so that no issue of a child of an uncle or aunt inherits unless no closer relative as near as a child of an uncle or aunt is living.
• When all heirs stand in the same degree, they take in equal shares with no representation needed.

Special Rules That Change the Outcome

Several statutory rules can move or block a share. Check each one before you distribute.

Half-blood relatives

Half-blood relatives inherit the same as whole-blood relatives. Section 2104 states that heirs take without distinction between those of the whole and those of the half blood. A half-sibling inherits the same share as a full sibling at the same level.

Adopted children

An adopted person is treated as the issue of the adopting parents for inheritance by, from, and through them (20 Pa.C.S. § 2108). The adopted person generally stops being treated as the child of the natural parents, with narrow exceptions, including where a natural parent married the adopting parent. Adopted children inherit from adoptive parents the same way biological children do.

Children born out of wedlock

A person born out of wedlock can inherit from and through both parents when parentage is established under the standards in Section 2107. Establishing the father's parentage may require evidence such as an acknowledgment, a court determination, or clear and convincing proof.

Posthumous heirs

A child conceived before the decedent's death but born afterward inherits as if born during the decedent's lifetime (20 Pa.C.S. § 2104).

The five-day survival rule

An heir must survive the decedent by five days to inherit. Section 2104 treats anyone who fails to survive by five days as having predeceased the decedent for intestate purposes. This prevents an estate from passing briefly to someone who dies almost immediately after.

The slayer rule

A person who participates in the willful and unlawful killing of the decedent cannot inherit from the victim. Pennsylvania's slayer statute (20 Pa.C.S. §§ 8801 through 8802) treats the slayer as having predeceased the decedent for purposes of property that would have passed by intestate succession.

Forfeiture for desertion or non-support

Section 2106 can bar a spouse or parent from an intestate share in defined situations, such as a spouse who willfully deserted or failed to support the decedent, or a parent who failed to perform a duty of support. These cases are fact-specific and usually need a court ruling.

How Intestate Shares Connect to Taxes and Probate

Receiving an intestate share is not the end of the process. Pennsylvania imposes an inheritance tax based on the heir's relationship to the decedent, and that tax applies whether or not there was a will. A surviving spouse is taxed at 0 percent, while direct descendants, siblings, and other heirs face different rates. The Pennsylvania inheritance tax guide explains the categories and timing.

The administration steps still apply: open the estate, give notice, pay debts and taxes, and distribute what remains under Chapter 21. The Pennsylvania probate timeline lays out the order, and the Pennsylvania county directory helps you find the right Register of Wills office. If the decedent did leave a will but you are unsure whether it is valid, the Pennsylvania will requirements guide explains what makes a will hold up, since an invalid will can push an estate back into intestacy.

When to Get Help

Intestate math gets complicated fast in real families. Get advice from a licensed Pennsylvania attorney when:

• Children come from more than one relationship, which triggers the § 2102(4) one-half rule.
• Parentage of a child or a parent is disputed or unestablished.
• The estate may reach siblings, grandparents, or further out, where representation rules are easy to misapply.
• Someone raises desertion, non-support, or the slayer rule.
• Real estate or a business is part of the estate.

Settled is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. The figures and rules here come from the Pennsylvania statutes cited above, but statutes change and individual facts matter. Verify your situation with the Register of Wills and the Orphans' Court in the county where the decedent lived, and confirm any share before you distribute. A short consultation with a Pennsylvania probate attorney is worth it when the order of heirs or the size of a share is in doubt.

Sources

• Pennsylvania General Assembly, 20 Pa.C.S. § 2102 (Share of surviving spouse), legis.state.pa.us, accessed June 10, 2026.
• Pennsylvania General Assembly, 20 Pa.C.S. § 2103 (Shares of others than surviving spouse), legis.state.pa.us, accessed June 10, 2026.
• Pennsylvania General Assembly, 20 Pa.C.S. § 2104 (Rules of succession, including representation, half blood, posthumous heirs, and five-day survival), legis.state.pa.us, accessed June 10, 2026.
• Pennsylvania General Assembly, 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 2101, 2106, 2107, 2108 (Intestate estate, forfeiture, persons born out of wedlock, adopted person), legis.state.pa.us, accessed June 10, 2026.
• Pennsylvania General Assembly, 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 8801 through 8802 (Slayers), legis.state.pa.us, accessed June 10, 2026.