If a person dies owning assets and does not have a valid will, his or her property will pass to the closest blood heirs of the deceased person, as specified by the intestacy statute
If a person dies without leaving a will, the assets of the deceased's estate pass under the intestacy rules These vary according to whether or not there is a surviving spouse, or surviving children, parents, brothers and sisters and so on If a person's will does not deal with all of the assets of the estate, there may be a partial intestacy The rules of intestacy in Scotland differ from the rest of the UK
the situation arising upon the death of a person who has not left a valid will, or who has failed to dispose entirely of his/her property (partial intestacy) See also succession
This happens when someone dies without leaving a will Their estate is divided up between their relatives following the rules set by law