What happens if someone dies without a Will in South Australia?

If someone dies without a Will in South Australia, the law deems that they have died “intestate”, and the Succession Act (2023) determines who inherits their estate.

The Succession Act divides the estate based on next of kin. It does not follow what the person might have wanted.

A person’s intestate estate be distributed in the following order of priority:

1. If they leave a spouse or domestic partner but no children, the partner inherits everything.
2. If there is a spouse or domestic partner and children, and the estate is worth $120,000 or less, the partner gets it all.
3. If the estate exceeds $120,000, the partner gets the first $120,000 and half the remainder. The children share the other half equally.
4. If there is no spouse or partner but there are children, the children share the estate equally. If a child has died but left children of their own, these grandchildren inherit their parent’s share.
5. If there are no spouse, partner, children, or grandchildren, the estate follows a defined order: parents, then siblings (or nieces/nephews), then grandparents, then aunts/uncles (or cousins), and, if no relatives exist, ultimately the Government inherits.

If a person has died without a Will, but they have left notes, or a letter, or a video, or a text message or even a message written in blood on a wall that expresses their testamentary intentions then it may be possible to obtain an order from the Court that a person’s estate should be distributed in accordance with that “informal testamentary document.”

If someone dies without a Will in South Australia, then, it is likely that their next of kin will need to file an Application for Letters of Administration or an Application for Probate of an Informal Testamentary Document to administer their estate.

We have significant experience in efficiently and quickly handling the above situations so that families spend as little time as possible within the legal system.