Short answer: Idaho law decides for you. Your spouse keeps all community property, but your separate property is split between your spouse and your children and a court chooses who raises minor children and who administers your estate.
Dying without a will is called dying 'intestate,' and Idaho Code §§ 15-2-101 through 15-2-103 supply the plan you never wrote. Here's how it actually works.
If you're married: your half of the community property- generally everything either spouse earned or acquired during the marriage- passes to your surviving spouse, who already owns the other half. So far, most people approve. The surprise is separate property: anything you owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance. If you leave children (even adult children from this marriage), your spouse takes only half of your separate property; your children take the other half. If you have no children but a surviving parent, your parent takes half of your separate property. Only if you leave no children and no parents does your spouse inherit everything. This is a big surprise to most Idahoans.
If you're unmarried: everything goes to your children equally; if none, to your parents; if none, to siblings and their descendants; and so on out the family tree. Even long term romantic partners do not inherit anything.
What intestacy doesn't handle is often worse than the property split:
- No guardian nomination for your minor children- a magistrate judge chooses among whoever steps forward, without your input.
- No personal representative of your choosing- Idaho law sets a priority list, and family disagreements about who serves can turn into litigation.
- Children inherit outright at 18. Few 18-year-olds are improved by an inheritance with no strings attached.
- Blended families fare worst: stepchildren inherit nothing through intestacy, no matter how long you raised them.
Intestacy also doesn't avoid probate- your family still goes through the court process, just without instructions. A basic will fixes each one of these problems, names a guardian, and with Liberty Law Idaho, costs flat fee that we tell you upfront. It is the single highest-value legal document most Idaho adults don't have.
Liberty Law Idaho offers flat-fee estate planning and family law services with prices published up front. Schedule a consultation - in person in Meridian or virtually anywhere in Idaho - at libertylawidaho.com or 208-273-8825