What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Alberta?
Reviewed by Megan Koper, JD, Lawyer & Principal at WillWise. Last reviewed: July 2026.
When you die without a valid will in Alberta, you die intestate, and the Wills and Succession Act, not your own wishes, decides who inherits your estate. The law follows a fixed order. Your surviving spouse or adult interdependent partner (a committed partner recognized under Alberta law) comes first: if all your children are also their children, they inherit everything. If you have children from another relationship, your partner receives the greater of $150,000 or half the estate, and your children share the rest. If you have no spouse or partner, your children inherit equally. If you have neither, the estate passes to your parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives. Only if no eligible relatives can be found does it go to the Government of Alberta. Because there is no will naming anyone, the court must appoint a person to settle the estate through a grant of administration. WillWise guides Alberta families through that process with transparent, published pricing and no upfront fees.
What does "dying intestate" mean?
Dying intestate simply means dying without a valid will. When that happens, you no longer control who inherits your property or who is put in charge of your estate. Instead, Alberta's Wills and Succession Act sets out a fixed order of who inherits, and the Court of King's Bench (Surrogate Division), often called the Surrogate Court, decides who is authorized to manage everything.
You can also be partially intestate. That happens when you leave a valid will, but it does not deal with all of your property. The part your will covers is distributed according to the will; anything left over is distributed under the intestacy rules below.
A will lets you name your own beneficiaries and choose the person who administers your estate. Without one, both of those decisions are made for you by statute.
Who inherits if there's no will in Alberta?
If there's no will, your estate passes under a set order in the Wills and Succession Act, starting with your spouse or adult interdependent partner and your children, and moving outward to more distant relatives only if there is no one closer. An adult interdependent partner (AIP) is a partner recognized under Alberta law, generally someone you lived with in a committed relationship for at least three years, or with whom you have a child, or with whom you signed an adult interdependent partner agreement.
Here is how the estate is divided in each common situation. All figures are net value: what remains after debts, funeral costs, and administration expenses are paid.
| Your surviving family | Who inherits |
|---|---|
| Spouse or AIP, no children | The entire estate goes to your spouse or AIP. |
| Spouse or AIP, and all children are shared with them | The entire estate goes to your spouse or AIP (the law assumes they will provide for the children). |
| Spouse or AIP, and at least one child is from another relationship | Your spouse or AIP receives the greater of $150,000 or one-half of the net estate; your children share the remainder. |
| Both a spouse and an AIP | They divide the spouse's share between them. |
| No spouse or AIP, but children survive | Your children inherit in equal shares. If a child died before you but left children, that child's share passes to their own children. |
| No spouse, AIP, or children | The estate passes to your parents; then to your siblings; then to more distant relatives, in order of closeness. |
| No relatives close enough to qualify | The estate passes to the Government of Alberta. |
The $150,000 figure is the "preferential share" set by Alberta regulation. Note one important exception: a spouse or AIP who had been separated from you for two years or more before your death, or whose relationship had been formally ended by a court order or agreement, generally loses their entitlement under these rules.
Does my spouse or partner automatically get everything?
Not always. Your spouse or adult interdependent partner inherits your entire estate only if you have no children, or if every one of your children is also theirs. In that case, the law presumes you would have wanted your partner to receive everything and to provide for the children.
The result changes when there is a blended family. If you leave a spouse or partner and at least one child from another relationship, your partner does not receive everything. Instead, they receive the greater of $150,000 or half of the net estate, and your children divide the rest.
For example: if your net estate is worth $200,000 and you leave a partner and one child from a previous relationship, your partner receives $150,000 (the greater of $150,000 or $100,000), and your child receives $50,000. In our experience, this outcome surprises many people. It is one of the clearest reasons to make a will if your family is blended.
Who settles the estate if there's no will?
When there's no will, no one is automatically in charge. Someone, usually a close relative such as a spouse, adult interdependent partner, or adult child, must apply to the Surrogate Court to be appointed. The court grants that authority through a grant of administration, and the person appointed is called the personal representative (the same role an executor fills when there is a will).
The Estate Administration Act sets the order of who has the strongest right to apply. Once appointed, the personal representative gathers the assets, pays the debts and taxes, and distributes what remains according to the intestacy rules above. You can read more about how that appointment works on our grant of administration page, and about what the role involves in the administrator's duties.
One more protection to know about: a surviving spouse or AIP has the right to remain in the family home for 90 days after the death, at the estate's expense, and certain dependants can apply to the court for a larger share if the intestacy rules leave them without adequate support.
How is this different from having a will?
The core difference is control. With a valid will, you choose who inherits, in what shares, and who administers your estate, and you can appoint a guardian for minor children. Without one, all of those decisions default to the Wills and Succession Act and the court.
That has real consequences. Under intestacy you cannot leave anything to a friend, a charity, or a stepchild you never adopted, because the rules recognize only spouses, adult interdependent partners, and blood or legally adopted relatives. The distribution is rigid, it may not match what you would have wanted, and it can leave your family sorting out who applies to administer the estate at an already difficult time.
Making a will avoids all of that. It is also, typically, far simpler and less stressful for the people you leave behind.
Related pages
Probate & Estate Administration in Alberta: the overview hub covering probate, administration, and how estates are settled in Alberta.
Grant of Administration in Alberta: how the court appoints an administrator when there is no will, and who has the right to apply.
Executor & Administrator Responsibilities in Alberta: the duties of the personal representative once appointed.
This page is general information about dying without a will in Alberta. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship with WillWise. Every estate is different, and the law can change. Deadlines are strict and can turn on the specific facts of your situation, so you should not rely on this page in place of advice about your own circumstances. Before you act, or decide not to act, speak with a lawyer who can review the details and advise you directly.
