If you die without a valid Will, the law decides who gets your assets. This is called ‘dying intestate'.
These rules apply to everyone and do not take into account an individual’s wishes or situation.
Who gets the estate
If you die without a Will or your Will is not valid, then an application for a Grant of Letters of Administration may need to be made to the Supreme Court. Usually, it is the deceased’s next of kin who has to apply for this grant. For example, the spouse, domestic partner or a child of the deceased.
If the person died and left behind a partner, then all of the estate goes to them. If there were also children from another relationship then some of the estate may also go to those children, but this depends on how much money was left in the estate. This won’t happen unless there was about $500,000 in the estate after all debts and funeral expenses have been paid. Different rules apply if the person left behind more than one partner.
If there were children but no partner, the estate is distributed to the children equally.
If the person had no partner or children, then all the estate goes to relatives in this order:
- Parents
- Siblings
- Grandparents
- Aunts and uncles
- Cousins.
The estate does not pass to the government unless there are no living relatives.
If you think you might benefit from a Will, it is always best to get independent legal advice from a private lawyer.
Domestic or de facto relationships
A domestic or de facto relationship is when two people are not married but live together or have lived together as a couple on a genuine domestic basis. The same laws apply to same-sex couples as to heterosexual (different-sex) couples.
You need to have lived in a domestic or de facto relationship for two years, or have a child together, or have formally registered your relationship before your partner can benefit from your estate if you die without a Will.
The safest way to make sure your partner gets what you want them to inherit from your estate is to make a valid Will.
Other support
Find out how you can get other support for Wills, estates and powers of attorney.
Disclaimer: The material in this print-out relates to the law as it applies in the state of Victoria. It is intended as a general guide only. Readers should not act on the basis of any material in this print-out without getting legal advice about their own particular situations. Victoria Legal Aid disclaims any liability howsoever caused to any person in respect of any action taken in reliance on the contents of the publication.
We help Victorians with their legal problems and represent those who need it most. Find legal answers, chat with us online, or call us. You can speak to us in English or ask for an interpreter. You can also find more legal information at www.legalaid.vic.gov.au
Reviewed 21 June 2023
In this section
-
- How we can help
- Help at court
- Help before court – for criminal charges
-
- Help in your language
- Amharic/አማርኛ
- Arabic / عربي
- Bosnian/Bosanski
- Burmese/ျမန္မ
- Chinese Traditional/繁體中文
- Croatian/Hrvatski
- Dari/دری
- Dinka/Thuɔŋjäŋ
- Easy English
- English
- Farsi/فارسی
- Filipino/Filipino
- Greek/Ελληνικά
- Hindi/हिंदी
- Italian/Italiano
- Khmer/ខ្មែរ
- Korean/한국어
- Macedonian/Македонски
- Malay/Bahasa Malaysia
- Nuer/Thok Nath
- Oromo/Oromoo
- Pashto/پښتو
- Polish/Polski
- Punjabi/ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
- Russian/Русский
- Serbian/Cрпски
- Sinhalese/සිංහල
- Somali/Soomali
- Spanish/Español
- Tamil/தமிழ்
- Thai/ภาษาไทย
- Tigrinya/ትግርኛ
- Turkish/Türkçe
- Ukrainian/Українська
- Urdu/اردو
- Vietnamese/Tiếng Việt
- Support if you are deaf or find it hard to hear or speak on the phone
- I need legal information about ...
- Legal issues we can't help with
- Partner firms we work with that provide legal aid
- My safety - options before and after relationship separation
-
- I need legal information about ...
- Arson, fires and fireworks
-
- COVID-19 coronavirus
- COVID-19 and fines
- COVID-19 and being unable to work
- COVID-19 and delaying starting your new job
- COVID-19 and discrimination at work
- COVID-19 and losing work
- COVID-19, mandatory vaccines and work
- COVID-19 and safety at work
- COVID-19, work and caring for others
- COVID-19 and working from home
- COVID-19 and protection visa reviews
- Other support
- Defamation
-
- Discrimination
- Discrimination and victimisation
- Racial vilification and acts of racial hatred
- Disability discrimination
- Disability discrimination and employment
- Pregnancy and parental discrimination at work
- Sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination
- Making a complaint about discrimination
- Remedies to a complaint about discrimination
- Other support
-
- Employment
- Difference between employees and contractors
- Employment contracts and conditions
- Minimum rates of pay and getting paid properly
- Giving notice to end employment
- Termination of employment
- Superannuation and complaints
- Workplace safety
- Workplace bullying and discrimination
- Speaking to your employer about discrimination
- Other support
-
- Going to court
-
- Going to court for a criminal charge
- Community corrections orders
- Going to court – pleading guilty
- Going to court – pleading not guilty
- Going to court – diversion
- Going to court – rehearings
- Possible outcomes for criminal offences
- Representing yourself in a criminal case
- Serious criminal charges
- Appealing a Magistrates' Court decision
- Going to court – writing a character reference
- Going to court – what I want to say in court
- Criminal records
- Demerit points
- Going to court to get a divorce
- Going to court as a witness
- Going to court for a sexual assault case
- Going to court to divide property
- How to behave in court
- Other support
- Guns and other weapons
- How to run a family law case
-
- Mental health and disability
- Mental health and your rights
- Having control over your treatment
- Rights of people receiving compulsory treatment
- Compulsory treatment orders
- Electroconvulsive treatment
- Going to the Mental Health Tribunal
- When police are called because of your mental health condition
- What happens at the police station if you have a cognitive disability
- Insurance discrimination – your rights if you have a mental health condition
- Other support
- Owning a dog
-
- Parenting arrangements, child contact and child support
-
- Parenting arrangements and child contact
- If you agree on parenting arrangements
- Parenting orders
- Applying for parenting orders
- Living with parenting arrangements
- Relocating or travelling with children
- What the court considers when making a parenting order
- Supervised time between parents and children
- Caring for children when you are not their parent
- Abduction
- Airport watch list order kit
- Recovery order kit
- Other support
- Sexual harassment
- The ban on Nazi symbols in Victoria
-
- Violence, abuse and personal safety
-
- Family violence intervention orders
- Applying for a family violence intervention order
- Evidence to support your application
- Before an applicant goes to the court hearing
- If an application has been made against you
- Family violence intervention orders to protect children
- When a family violence intervention order starts
- Conditions in a family violence intervention order
- Breaking an intervention order
- Changing a family violence intervention order
- What the police do about family violence
- Child protection
- Violent behaviour
- Commonwealth Family Violence and Cross-Examination of Parties Scheme
- Other support
-
- Videos about the law
- Australia's legal system
- Buying a car
- Car accidents - what's the law?
- Centrelink debts – what's the law?
- Child protection and parenting – what's the law?
- Consumer issues – what's the law?
- Dealing with door-to-door sales – videos
- Discrimination – what's the law?
- Driving – what's the law?
- Employment – what's the law?
- Fines – what's the law?
- Police and my legal rights – what's the law?
- Rental agreements – what's the law?
- Separation and parenting arrangements – what's the law?
- The unexpected side-effect of pregnancy: discrimination
-
- About us
-
- Our organisation
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Child Safe Standards
- Disability action plan
- How we treat victims of crime – our commitment to the Victims’ charter
- Our Board
- Our vision, purpose and values
- Senior leadership
- What legal and community leaders say about legal aid
-
- How we are improving our services
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Learning Strategy
- Aboriginal Services Strategy 2020–25
- Benefits of funding legal assistance
- Better justice, every day
- Chambers review
- Child Protection Legal Aid Services Review
- Client-first strategy
- Client Priority and Capability Policy
- Community Legal Services Program Reform Project
- County Court Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court Pilot
- Criminal Appeals Review
- The Data Discovery Tool
-
- Delivering high quality criminal trials
- Action 2: retain instructing lawyers in trials
- Action 1: establish a preferred trial counsel list
- Action 3: introduce new quality tools
- Action 4: introduce brief analysis and case strategy fee
- Action 1: establish a preferred trial counsel list
- Action 2: retain instructing lawyers in trials
- Digital Legal Aid
- Education Strategy project
- Equitable briefing strategy
- First Nations Cultural Capability Framework project
- Flexible Forum Test guideline
- Summary crime evaluation
-
- What we do
- Who is eligible for help
- Early Resolution Service for family violence matters
- Family Advocacy and Support Services
- Independent Family Advocacy and Support
- Independent Mental Health Advocacy
- Victims Legal Service
- Specialist sexual harassment and discrimination law services
- Access and equity
- Civil justice
- Chambers
- Criminal law
- Family law
- What to expect from our services
- Managing the quality of our services
-
- For lawyers
-
- Doing legal aid work
- Briefing Victoria Legal Aid Chambers
-
- Duty lawyer services
- Accreditation guidelines for duty lawyers
- Private practitioner duty lawyers' responsibilities
- Payments and records management for private practitioner duty lawyers
- Payments and records management for Children’s Court Family Division
- Duty lawyers in the Family Division of the Children's Court (child protection matters)
- Duty lawyers at court for criminal charges
- Co-ordinators and reporting offices for duty lawyers
- Private practitioner duty lawyer scheme to deal with conflicts
- Duty Lawyer Guidelines for personal safety intervention orders
- Private Practitioner Short Service Scheme Contracts
- Invoicing for legal aid work by barristers
- Legal assistance for the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants
- Seeking and recovering costs in legal aid matters
- The mixed model of service delivery
- Log in to Atlas
- Grants enquiries
- Handbook for lawyers
- Improving our services
- Law reform
- Staff only