Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Massachusetts, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Massachusetts’s intestacy statute (M.G.L. c. 190B, §2-102) 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 Massachusetts residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: M.G.L. c. 190B, §2-102 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: no descendant or parent survives; OR all surviving descendants are also the spouse’s AND the spouse has no other outside descendant.
When it is less than everything: No descendant survives but a parent does: ‘the first $200,000, plus 3/4 of any balance.’ Blended-family cases (either direction): ‘the first $100,000 plus 1/2 of any balance’; floor drops from $200,000 (parent-only case) to $100,000 the moment any descendant is involved and not shared by both spouses.
(3) the first $100,000 plus 1/2 of any balance of the intestate estate, if all of the decedent’s surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the surviving spouse has 1 or more surviving descendants who are not descendants of the decedent; (4) the first $100,000 plus 1/2 of any balance of the intestate estate, if 1 or more of the decedent’s surviving descendants are not descendants of the surviving spouse.
Source: M.G.L. c. 190B, §2-102
If a DIY will fits your situation in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, 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
descendants per capita at each generation -> parents equally or surviving parent -> descendants of parents, per capita at each generation -> next of kin in equal degree, nearer-ancestor line preferred.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: Full share, no reduction. M.G.L. c. 190B, §2-107: ‘Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.’
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Massachusetts 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.