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What happens if I die without a Will in Queensland?

Estate Planning
Family reviewing estate documents after a death.
Family reviewing estate documents after a death.

Dying without a valid Will is known as dying intestate. It leaves your family with significant stress, cost, and strict legal formulas that dictates who gets your assets. You lose the right to choose your beneficiaries and your executor.

The Statutory Distribution Rules

Under Part 3 of the Succession Act 1981 (Qld), your estate is distributed as follows:1

1. If you have a Spouse but No Children

Your spouse receives the entire estate. (Note: “Spouse” includes a registered partner or de facto partner of 2+ years).

2. If you have a Spouse AND Children

Your spouse does not automatically get everything.

  • The Spouse receives: $150,000 + the household chattels (furniture etc.) + one-third of the remaining estate.
  • The Children receive: The remaining two-thirds of the estate divided equally.

Scenario: You own a $1M house in your sole name. Your spouse might have to sell the family home to pay your children their two-thirds share.

[!WARNING] This scenario is not hypothetical. The Succession Act applies automatically if you die without a valid Will, regardless of what you intended. The family home can be legally forced to sale to satisfy a child’s statutory entitlement.

Draft your Will with Bell & Senior today — fixed-fee Will drafting services available.

3. If you have No Spouse and No Children

The estate goes to relatives in this order:

  1. Parents (equally).
  2. Siblings (or their children).
  3. Grandparents.
  4. Uncles and Aunts (or their children).
  5. The Crown (Government).

Letters of Administration

Because you didn’t appoint an Executor, no one has automatic authority to manage your affairs. A family member must apply to the Supreme Court for Letters of Administration.2

  • This is more complex and expensive than standard Probate.
  • It requires proving who the eligible beneficiaries are (often requiring birth/marriage certificates for everyone).

Common Problems with Intestacy

  • Step-families: Rigid formulas often fail to protect step-children or blended families adequately.
  • Minor Children: Children’s shares must be held in trust until they turn 18, which is rigid and awkward to manage.
  • Conflict: Without a chosen executor, family members often fight over who should apply to be the administrator.
  • Informal relationships: A long-term but unregistered partner, a stepchild who was never formally adopted, or a close friend who acted as a carer may receive nothing under intestacy, regardless of the deceased’s actual intentions.

Family Provision Claims Still Apply

Even where an estate is distributed under intestacy, eligible people, including a spouse, child, or dependant, can bring a family provision claim under the Succession Act 1981 (Qld) if they believe the statutory distribution does not provide adequately for them. Intestacy does not extinguish the right to seek proper provision.

Secure Your Legacy

A professionally drafted Will is the only way to ensure your assets go exactly where you want them to. Bell & Senior provides fixed-fee Will drafting services across the Gold Coast.

Contact our Wills & Estates team today — call (07) 5532 8777 or book online.

  1. Succession Act 1981 (Qld) Sch 2 (Distribution of residuary estate on intestacy). ↩︎

  2. Succession Act 1981 (Qld) s 48. ↩︎

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