Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

What happens if my wife dies without a will? She has two children, one by a previous marriage and one by us.


Asked on 7/22/14, 3:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Paul B. Ward Law Offices of Paul B. Ward

The distribution of her estate will be governed by the Virginia Code:

� 64.2-200. Course of descents generally; right of Commonwealth if no other heir.

A. The real estate of any decedent not effectively disposed of by will descends and passes by intestate succession in the following course:

1. To the surviving spouse of the decedent, unless the decedent is survived by children or their descendants, one or more of whom are not children or their descendants of the surviving spouse, in which case, two-thirds of the estate descends and passes to the decedent's children and their descendants, and one-third of the estate descends and passes to the surviving spouse.

The personal estate will be distributed in just the same fashion.

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Answered on 7/22/14, 6:45 am


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