Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Wisconsin, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Wisconsin’s intestacy statute (Wis. Stat. §852.01) 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 Wisconsin residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: Wis. Stat. §852.01 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/domestic partner takes the entire estate if there are no surviving issue, OR all surviving issue are issue of both the surviving spouse/partner and the decedent. A surviving parent does not affect this.
When it is less than everything: Blended-family case: ‘one-half of decedent’s property other than the following property: a. The decedent’s interest in marital property. b. The decedent’s interest in property held equally and exclusively with the surviving spouse … as tenants in common’; the half-share is calculated only over the decedent’s NON-marital property; the decedent’s marital-property interest is excluded and passes entirely to the decedent’s issue instead (per Estate of Carroll, 2001 WI App 120).
(a) To the spouse or domestic partner: 1. If there are no surviving issue of the decedent, or if the surviving issue are all issue of the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner and the decedent, the entire estate. 2. If there are surviving issue one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner, one-half of decedent’s property other than the following property: a. The decedent’s interest in marital property. b. The decedent’s interest in property held equally and exclusively with the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner as tenants in common.
Source: Wis. Stat. §852.01
If a DIY will fits your situation in Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, 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
issue per stirpes -> parents -> siblings and issue of deceased siblings per stirpes -> grandparents and issue: half maternal, half paternal, whole estate to other side if one side empty -> escheat (to the state school fund, not general fund).
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: Full share; no reduction (Wis. Stat. §852.03(3) / §854.21(4)).
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Wisconsin 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.