Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in New York, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means New York’s intestacy statute (N.Y. EPTL §4-1.1) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from New York residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: N.Y. EPTL §4-1.1 and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: Spouse takes the WHOLE estate if the decedent leaves a spouse and NO issue; EPTL §4-1.1(a)(2). NOTABLE DIFFERENTIATOR: New York’s ‘spouse takes all’ rule depends ONLY on the presence/absence of issue; surviving parents are irrelevant to whether the spouse takes the whole estate (parents only inherit under (a)(4), which by its own terms applies only when there is ‘no spouse and no issue’).
When it is less than everything: If decedent leaves a spouse AND issue: spouse takes a flat $50,000 PLUS one-half of the residue; the balance passes to the issue by representation; §4-1.1(a)(1): ‘A spouse and issue, fifty thousand dollars and one-half of the residue to the spouse, and the balance thereof to the issue by representation.’ New York draws NO distinction between the spouse’s own (mutual) issue and issue from another relationship; the $50,000-plus-half formula applies uniformly regardless of whether the surviving issue are also the surviving spouse’s children. This is a real difference from Texas/Florida/Pennsylvania, which all reduce the spouse’s share specifically for non-mutual descendants.
EPTL §4-1.1(a): ‘(1) A spouse and issue, fifty thousand dollars and one-half of the residue to the spouse, and the balance thereof to the issue by representation. (2) A spouse and no issue, the whole to the spouse.’
Source: N.Y. EPTL §4-1.1
If a DIY will fits your situation in New York
In New York, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link; it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
Who inherits if there is no spouse
EPTL §4-1.1(a): (3) issue, by representation, if no spouse; (4) one or both surviving parents, if no spouse or issue; (5) issue of parents (siblings/nieces/nephews), by representation, if no spouse, issue, or parent; (6) grandparents or their issue; split one-half to the paternal grandparent(s)/their issue and one-half to the maternal side, with a full-share crossover if one side has none (issue of grandparents capped at grandchildren-of-grandparents, i.e. first cousins); (7) great-grandchildren of grandparents (first cousins once removed); split paternal half/maternal half, per capita, with the same one-side-empty crossover. Beyond (7), New York’s intestacy statute provides no further named taker, so the estate escheats to the state (outside the excerpted text of §4-1.1 itself, but the well-established default terminus of New York intestacy when no §4-1.1(a) distributee survives).
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: FULL share, no distinction from whole-blood. §4-1.1(b): ‘For all purposes of this section, decedent’s relatives of the half blood shall be treated as if they were relatives of the whole blood.’
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets New York property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.