Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Florida, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Florida’s intestacy statute (Fla. Stat. §732.102) 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 Florida residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: Fla. Stat. §732.102 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 ENTIRE intestate estate if (1) there is no surviving descendant of the decedent AT ALL, OR (2) every surviving descendant of the decedent is also a descendant of the surviving spouse AND the surviving spouse has no OTHER descendant (§732.102(1)-(2)). NOTABLE DIFFERENTIATOR: unlike California, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania, Florida’s ‘spouse takes all’ condition does NOT require the absence of surviving parents; Florida gives the spouse the whole estate whenever there are no (or only fully-mutual) descendants, regardless of whether the decedent’s parents are alive.
When it is less than everything: If there ARE surviving descendants who are not also descendants of the spouse, spouse takes ONE-HALF of the intestate estate (§732.102(3)). BLENDED-FAMILY RULE, stated symmetrically both directions: spouse’s share drops to one-half if the decedent has a descendant who is not the spouse’s descendant (3), AND ALSO drops to one-half if the spouse has an outside descendant of their own even where all of the decedent’s descendants are mutual (4); ‘If there are one or more surviving descendants of the decedent, all of whom are also descendants of the surviving spouse, and the surviving spouse has one or more descendants who are not descendants of the decedent, one-half of the intestate estate.’ Florida gives the spouse only two possible shares as to descendants: all, or one-half; there is no one-third/two-thirds gradation by number of children as in California.
Fla. Stat. §732.102: ‘The intestate share of the surviving spouse is: (1) If there is no surviving descendant of the decedent, the entire intestate estate. (2) If the decedent is survived by one or more descendants, all of whom are also descendants of the surviving spouse, and the surviving spouse has no other descendant, the entire intestate estate. (3) If there are one or more surviving descendants of the decedent who are not lineal descendants of the surviving spouse, one-half of the intestate estate. (4) If there are one or more surviving descendants of the decedent, all of whom are also descendants of the surviving spouse, and the surviving spouse has one or more descendants who are not descendants of the decedent, one-half of the intestate estate.’
Source: Fla. Stat. §732.102
If a DIY will fits your situation in Florida
In Florida, 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.
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Who inherits if there is no spouse
§732.103: (1) descendants of the decedent; (2) if none, decedent’s father and mother equally, or the survivor; (3) if none of the foregoing, decedent’s brothers/sisters and descendants of deceased brothers/sisters; (4) if none, estate splits half to paternal kindred / half to maternal kindred, going first to grandparents (or survivor), then to uncles/aunts and their descendants, with a cross-over provision if one side has no kindred; (5) if no kindred on either side, the WHOLE estate passes to the kindred of the decedent’s last deceased spouse (treated as if that spouse had survived and then died intestate); a distinctive Florida quirk; (6) a narrow Holocaust-victim-descendants provision; ultimately escheats to the state if no taker.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: REDUCED to half-share, but only for COLLATERAL kindred (not descendants), same structure as Texas. §732.105: ‘When property descends to the collateral kindred of the intestate and part of the collateral kindred are of the whole blood to the intestate and the other part of the half blood, those of the half blood shall inherit only half as much as those of the whole blood; but if all are of the half blood they shall have whole parts.’
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Florida 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.