Who Inherits If You Die Without a Will in Alabama

Surviving spouse: everything if the decedent left no descendants and no parent; the first $100,000 plus half of the rest if a parent survives but no descendants; the first $50,000 plus half of the rest if all descendants are also the surviving spouse's descendants; half if any descendant is not the surviving spouse's. The rest (or everything, with no spouse) goes to descendants, then parents equally, then the parents' descendants (siblings and their lines), then half to the paternal and half to the maternal grandparents or their descendants.

A surviving spouse of an Alabama resident may elect to take the lesser of (1) one-third of the estate or (2) the whole estate minus the value of the spouse's own separate estate (which counts property the spouse owns, property received by surviving the decedent, and trust, life insurance and employer retirement benefits). The spouse must file a petition with the court within six months after death or six months after the will is probated, whichever is later; the court can extend the time if asked before it runs out.

Alabama uses a short court process rather than a simple affidavit. Under the Revised Alabama Small Estates Act, if the decedent owned no real estate (other than property passing automatically, such as by survivorship), was not survived by a minor child who is not the surviving spouse's child, and the personal property is worth no more than the small estate amount, a person entitled to the estate can file a verified petition for summary distribution in the probate court of the county where the decedent lived. No bond is required. Notice is published once in a local newspaper and sent to the Alabama Medicaid Agency, and the judge cannot order distribution until at least 30 days after each notice. Funeral expenses and claims must be paid or arranged.