Clear Money Guide
Start with the tool
Open the inputs first, then use the guide outline to check assumptions and sources.
The calculator
The schedule, as the statute writes it
The augmented estate is the part that decides cases
Comparison tables scroll horizontally on smaller screens.
Updated August 1, 2026. Quick answer: the spousal elective share is not a flat one-third, which is what most pages tell you. Under the Uniform Probate Code schedule it slides with the length of the marriage — from a supplemental amount only under one year, to 3% at one year, rising to 50% at fifteen years or more. And it is applied to the augmented estate, not the probate estate: a pool that deliberately reaches revocable trusts, payable-on-death accounts and life insurance, precisely so the elective share cannot be defeated by moving assets out of probate.
The calculator
The schedule, as the statute writes it
Quoted from Minn. Stat. §524.2-202(a), read from the Minnesota Legislature’s own site — one of the states that enacted the 1990 Uniform Probate Code schedule verbatim:
| Married to each other | Elective-share percentage |
|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | Supplemental amount only |
| 1 but less than 2 years | 3% |
| 2 but less than 3 years | 6% |
| 3 but less than 4 years | 9% |
| 4 but less than 5 years | 12% |
| 5 but less than 6 years | 15% |
| 6 but less than 7 years | 18% |
| 7 but less than 8 years | 21% |
| 8 but less than 9 years | 24% |
| 9 but less than 10 years | 27% |
| 10 but less than 11 years | 30% |
| 11 but less than 12 years | 34% |
| 12 but less than 13 years | 38% |
| 13 but less than 14 years | 42% |
| 14 but less than 15 years | 46% |
| 15 years or more | 50% |
Notice the shape: 3 percentage points per year to ten years, then 4 points per year to fifteen. A page quoting “one-third” is describing neither end of that.
The augmented estate is the part that decides cases
The percentage is the easy half. The pool it applies to is where elective-share fights actually happen, because the augmented estate is built specifically to be hard to shrink. It reaches beyond the probate estate into non-probate transfers — property in a revocable trust, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, life insurance and other beneficiary-designated assets — and it includes property the surviving spouse already owns. That last part surprises people: the survivor’s own assets count toward the pool the share is measured against.
The practical consequence is the one worth carrying: retitling assets to avoid probate does not avoid the elective share. If the plan was to leave a spouse out by moving everything into a trust or onto beneficiary forms, the augmented estate is the statute’s answer to that plan. A transfer-on-death deed is subject to the same logic, and whether one is even available where you live is a separate question with a verified answer.
Three different systems, and yours is one of them
This is where the generic articles go wrong, so be direct about it:
- 1990 UPC schedule — the elective-share percentage itself slides from 3% to 50% of the augmented estate. That is the version computed above and quoted from the statute.
- 2008 revised UPC — a different construction that reaches a similar place: the share is a flat 50%, but of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate, and it is that portion which slides with marriage length. The intermediate numbers do not match the 1990 schedule, so do not carry a figure from one into the other.
- Flat-fraction states — Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida and Ohio among them use a fixed fraction with no schedule at all. For those, marriage length does not change the percentage, and this calculator does not apply.
We verified the 1990 schedule from a state that enacted it. We have not verified each state’s version here, and we are not going to guess: look up your own state’s elective-share section before relying on any number, including this one.
Electing is a decision with a deadline
The election is not automatic. It has to be filed, within a statutory window that runs from the death or from the probate filing depending on the state, and missing it forfeits the right entirely. Under the Uniform Probate Code there is also a second, earlier cut-off that removes nonprobate transfers — the TOD deed, the POD accounts, the revocable trust — from the augmented estate altogether: the waiver rules and the one-year trap. The other clocks that start at a death are computed in the deadline calendar, and the order in which an estate actually has to be handled is mapped in the estate settlement roadmap. If there was no will at all, the elective share is not the right frame — intestacy is, and the blended-family split is where that most often goes wrong.
General information, not legal advice. The elective share is state law, the deadlines are short, and this is a decision worth an attorney.
Remarriage changes this by operation of law: a workplace plan pays your current spouse unless that spouse signs a witnessed consent — a prenup cannot do it, and a previous spouse’s consent does not carry over. Your IRA, meanwhile, still pays whoever is on the form.
The spousal elective share, by state (50 of 51 jurisdictions)
This calculator uses the Uniform Probate Code’s sliding-scale schedule, which only about a fifth of states actually follow. Each row below is that state’s own quick answer, excerpted from its own detail page.
| State | Elective share, in this state’s own words |
|---|---|
| Alaska | Quick answer: Alaska’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. one-third (1/3) of the augmented estate; supplemental elective share up to $50,000 if other amounts fall short |
| Arizona | Quick answer: Arizona has no spousal elective share to take against a will, because it does not need one: a surviving spouse already owns an automatic one-half interest in community property under A.R.S. Sec. 25-211, and a will can only dispose of the decedent’s own half plus any separate property. |
| Arkansas | Quick answer: Arkansas’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. if married more than 1 year: dower/curtesy as if intestate; with no surviving children, 1/2 of real estate in fee simple and 1/2 of personal estate against collateral heirs, but only 1/3 against creditors’ claims |
| California | Quick answer: California has no spousal elective share to take against a will, because it does not need one: a surviving spouse already owns an automatic one-half interest in community property under Cal. Prob. Code Sec. 21610 and 21611, and a will can only dispose of the decedent’s own half plus any separate property. |
| Colorado | Quick answer: Colorado is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. 50% of the ‘marital-property portion’ of the augmented estate; that portion equals the augmented estate multiplied by a marriage-length percentage: under 1 year = supplemental amount only, 1-2 yrs 10%, 2-3 yrs 20%, 3-4 yrs 30%, 4-5 yrs 40%, 5-6 yrs 50%, 6-7 yrs 60%, 7-8 yrs 70%, 8-9 yrs 80%, 9-10 yrs 90%, 10+ yrs 100%; so the ultimate share of the full augmented estate, computed as 50% multiplied by that percentage, ranges from 5% up to 50%; a $50,000 supplemental amount applies if other amounts fall short |
| Connecticut | Quick answer: Connecticut’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. a life estate (not outright) of one-third (1/3) in value of all property passing under the will, after payment of debts and charges |
| Delaware | Quick answer: Delaware’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. one-third (1/3) of the elective estate, less the amount of all transfers to the surviving spouse by the decedent |
| District of Columbia | Quick answer: District of Columbia’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. the intestate share the surviving spouse/domestic partner would have taken, capped at one-half (1/2) of the net estate bequeathed and devised by the will |
| Florida | Quick answer: Florida’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. flat 30% of the elective estate; no sliding scale by marriage length |
| Georgia | Quick answer: Georgia has no elective share at all; it abolished dower and curtesy and never adopted a Uniform Probate Code election. The only guaranteed protection against disinheritance is Year’s Support under O.C.G.A. Sec. 53-3-1 et seq, a court-set award sized to the family’s circumstances rather than a fixed percentage. |
| Hawaii | Quick answer: Hawaii is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. 50% of the ‘marital-property portion’ of the augmented estate; that portion = augmented estate x a marriage-length percentage: under 1 yr 3%, 1-2 yrs 6%, 2-3 yrs 12%, 3-4 yrs 18%, 4-5 yrs 24%, 5-6 yrs 30%, 6-7 yrs 36%, 7-8 yrs 42%, 8-9 yrs 54%, 9-10 yrs 60%, 10-11 yrs 68%, 11-12 yrs 76%, 12-13 yrs 84%, 13-14 yrs 92%, 14-15 yrs 96%, 15+ yrs 100%; plus a $90,000 supplemental minimum |
| Idaho | Quick answer: Idaho’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. community property already passes automatically without election; a supplemental elective share exists solely for ‘quasi-community property’ (property acquired while domiciled elsewhere that would have been community property in Idaho); flat one-half (1/2) of the total augmented quasi-community property estate |
| Illinois | Quick answer: Illinois’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. 1/3 of the entire estate if the decedent leaves a descendant; 1/2 of the entire estate if no descendant |
| Indiana | Quick answer: Indiana’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. general rule: 1/2 of the net personal and real estate; blended-family exception (second-or-later spouse, decedent has descendants not of that spouse): 1/3 of the net personal estate plus 25% of the remainder of the real estate’s value, less liens |
| Iowa | Quick answer: Iowa’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. one-third in value of real property the decedent possessed at any time during the marriage (to which the spouse made no written relinquishment); all exempt head-of-family personal property; one-third of remaining personal property not needed for debts; one-third in value of property in a revocable trust the decedent settled and could alter/amend/revoke |
| Kansas | Quick answer: Kansas is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. sliding scale by marriage length applied directly to the augmented estate: under 1 yr supplemental amount only, 1-2 yrs 3%, 2-3 yrs 6%, 3-4 yrs 9%, 4-5 yrs 12%, 5-6 yrs 15%, 6-7 yrs 18%, 7-8 yrs 21%, 8-9 yrs 24%, 9-10 yrs 27%, 10-11 yrs 30%, 11-12 yrs 34%, 12-13 yrs 38%, 13-14 yrs 42%, 14-15 yrs 46%, 15+ yrs 50% |
| Kentucky | Quick answer: Kentucky does not have a modern “elective share”; it has dower and curtesy, and KRS 392.020 was substantially rewritten effective July 15, 2026. The current default under Sec. 392.020: a life estate in 1/3 of any real estate the decedent owned in fee simple at some point during the marriage but no longer owned at death, plus an absolute 1/2 of the decedent’s “surplus personalty”; a category the 2026 rewrite expanded to reach payable-on-death, transfer-on-death, joint-survivorship and certain revocable-trust property. Separately, KRS 392.080 lets a surviving spouse renounce the will and take a share as if no will had been made, except real estate the decedent still owned in fee simple at death is capped at only 1/3 in that scenario. |
| Louisiana | Quick answer: Louisiana’s civil-law system has no common-law elective share at all. What it has instead is a means-tested ‘marital portion’ under La. Civil Code art. 2432, available only if the deceased spouse died wealthier than the survivor, capped at $1,000,000 and computed as a fraction of usufruct or ownership, not a flat percentage of everything. |
| Maine | Quick answer: Maine is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. 50% of the ‘marital-property portion’ of the augmented estate; that portion = augmented estate x a marriage-length percentage: under 1 yr 3%, 1-2 yrs 6%, 2-3 yrs 12%, 3-4 yrs 18%, 4-5 yrs 24%, 5-6 yrs 30%, 6-7 yrs 36%, 7-8 yrs 42%, 8-9 yrs 48%, 9-10 yrs 54%, 10-11 yrs 60%, 11-12 yrs 68%, 12-13 yrs 76%, 13-14 yrs 84%, 14-15 yrs 92%, 15+ yrs 100% |
| Maryland | Quick answer: Maryland’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. 1/3 of the ‘estate subject to election’ if there is surviving issue; 1/2 if no surviving issue; both reduced by the value of all ‘spousal benefits’ already received |
| Massachusetts | Quick answer: Massachusetts’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. if decedent left issue: 1/3 of personal and 1/3 of real property outright. If kindred but no issue: $25,000 plus 1/2 of the remaining personal and real property, but only the $25,000 is outright; any excess is a life-income interest only. If no issue and no kindred: $25,000 plus 1/2 of the remainder, taken absolutely. |
| Michigan | Quick answer: Michigan’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. 1/2 of the sum or share that would have passed to the spouse had the decedent died intestate, reduced by 1/2 of the value of all property the spouse already derived from the decedent by means other than testate or intestate succession |
| Minnesota | Quick answer: Minnesota is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. under 1 yr supplemental amount only, 1-2 yrs 3%, 2-3 yrs 6%, 3-4 yrs 9%, 4-5 yrs 12%, 5-6 yrs 15%, 6-7 yrs 18%, 7-8 yrs 21%, 8-9 yrs 24%, 9-10 yrs 27%, 10-11 yrs 30%, 11-12 yrs 34%, 12-13 yrs 38%, 13-14 yrs 42%, 14-15 yrs 46%, 15+ yrs 50%; supplemental amount to $75,000 if other amounts fall short |
| Mississippi | Quick answer: Mississippi’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. an intestate share of the estate on renunciation, except capped at 1/2 of the real and personal estate if the decedent left no child or descendant |
| Missouri | Quick answer: Missouri’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. 1/2 of the estate if there are no lineal descendants; 1/3 of the estate if there are lineal descendants |
| Montana | Quick answer: Montana is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. under 1 yr supplemental amount only, 1-2 yrs 3%, 2-3 yrs 6%, 3-4 yrs 9%, 4-5 yrs 12%, 5-6 yrs 15%, 6-7 yrs 18%, 7-8 yrs 21%, 8-9 yrs 24%, 9-10 yrs 27%, 10-11 yrs 30%, 11-12 yrs 34%, 12-13 yrs 38%, 13-14 yrs 42%, 14-15 yrs 46%, 15+ yrs 50%; supplemental amount to $50,000 if other amounts fall short |
| Nebraska | Quick answer: Nebraska’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. a fraction ‘not in excess of one-half’ of the augmented estate; no years-of-marriage percentage schedule exists in the current code |
| Nevada | Quick answer: Nevada has no spousal elective share to take against a will, because it does not need one: a surviving spouse already owns an automatic one-half interest in community property under NRS 123.250, and a will can only dispose of the decedent’s own half plus any separate property. |
| New Hampshire | Quick answer: New Hampshire’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. with surviving children: 1/3 of personalty and 1/3 of real estate. No children but a parent or sibling survives: $10,000 of personalty plus $10,000 of real estate, plus 1/2 of the remainder. No children, parent, or sibling: $10,000 plus $2,000 for each full year of marriage, plus 1/2 of the remainder. |
| New Jersey | Quick answer: New Jersey’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. a flat one-third (1/3) of the augmented estate; no marriage-length sliding scale |
| New Mexico | Quick answer: New Mexico has no spousal elective share to take against a will, because it does not need one: a surviving spouse already owns an automatic one-half interest in community property under NMSA 1978 Sec. 45-2-807, and a will can only dispose of the decedent’s own half plus any separate property. |
| New York | Quick answer: New York’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. the greater of (i) $50,000, or the capital value of the net estate if less than $50,000, or (ii) one-third of the net estate |
| North Carolina | Quick answer: North Carolina is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. married under 5 years: 15% of Total Net Assets; 5-10 years: 25%; 10-15 years: 33%; 15+ years: 50% |
| North Dakota | Quick answer: North Dakota’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. a flat 50% of the augmented estate, plus a supplemental amount bringing the total to $75,000 if it would otherwise fall short |
| Ohio | Quick answer: Ohio’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. 1/2 of the net estate; or 1/3 of the net estate if two or more of the decedent’s children (or their lineal descendants) survive |
| Oklahoma | Quick answer: Oklahoma’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. one-half (1/2) interest in property acquired by the joint industry of husband and wife during coverture; as to property not so acquired, no more than the intestate-succession value is required |
| Oregon | Quick answer: Oregon is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. 5% (marriage under 2 years) rising in steps to 33% (marriage 15+ years); e.g. 10-11 years = 23% |
| Pennsylvania | Quick answer: Pennsylvania’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. a flat one-third (1/3) of the elective-share estate |
| Rhode Island | Quick answer: Rhode Island’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. a life estate in the decedent’s individually-titled real estate, plus the surviving spouse’s intestate share of the personal estate; no percentage of a total estate is specified |
| South Carolina | Quick answer: South Carolina’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. a flat one-third (1/3) of the decedent’s probate estate, regardless of length of marriage |
| South Dakota | Quick answer: South Dakota is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. under 1 yr supplemental amount only, 1-2 yrs 3% rising in steps to 15+ yrs 50%; a supplemental amount to $50,000 if the total falls short |
| Tennessee | Quick answer: Tennessee is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. married less than 3 years: 10% of net estate; 3-6 years: 20%; 6-9 years: 30%; 9+ years: 40% |
| Texas | Quick answer: Texas has no spousal elective share to take against a will, because it does not need one: a surviving spouse already owns an automatic one-half interest in community property under Tex. Estates Code Title 2, and a will can only dispose of the decedent’s own half plus any separate property. |
| Utah | Quick answer: Utah’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. 1/3 of the augmented estate, with a supplemental amount guaranteeing a minimum of $75,000 (Utah never adopted the marriage-length sliding schedule) |
| Vermont | Quick answer: Vermont’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. one-half (1/2) of the balance of the probate estate, after payment of allowances, claims, and expenses; no augmented-estate concept |
| Virginia | Quick answer: Virginia’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. a flat 50% of the value of the ‘marital-property portion’ of the augmented estate; does not increase with years married |
| Washington | Quick answer: Washington has no true elective share against a will. What exists instead is a narrower statutory award under RCW 11.04.015, pulled only from property that would otherwise be exempt from creditors, and it is not a percentage of the estate. |
| West Virginia | Quick answer: West Virginia is a genuine marriage-length sliding-scale state: the share rises with years married rather than sitting at one flat number. under 1 yr supplemental amount only, 1-2 yrs 3% rising in steps to 15+ yrs 50%; a $25,000 supplemental floor |
| Wisconsin | Quick answer: Wisconsin’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. no more than 50% of the ‘augmented deferred marital property estate’; protects the spouse’s interest in property that would have been marital property under Wisconsin’s marital-property system but wasn’t (e.g. property acquired before the marital property act or brought in from another state); flat, not tied to marriage length |
| Wyoming | Quick answer: Wyoming’s elective share is not the one-third-of-everything, marriage-length figure most national pages describe. 1/2 if there is no surviving issue of the decedent, or if the surviving spouse is also a parent of the decedent’s surviving issue; 1/4 if the surviving spouse is not the parent of any of the decedent’s surviving issue |
Coverage, stated honestly: 50 of 51 jurisdictions. Alabama does not yet have its own page in this family.
This calculator uses the Uniform Probate Code’s sliding-scale schedule, which only about a fifth of states actually follow. Fifty states and DC now have their own page setting out the actual rule where they differ from it, and the family’s last missing state now has its own page too: Alabama.