Most people don’t think about what happens if there’s no will until they’re standing in a parent’s kitchen, going through mail, wondering who actually owns the house now. It’s one of the most common questions families in Maryland and Washington, DC face after an unexpected death: who inherits if there is no will?
The short answer is that Maryland law decides for you. When someone dies without a will, their property doesn’t automatically go to whoever seems closest, most responsible, or most in need. Instead, it passes through a set of rules called intestate succession, which splits assets among a spouse, children, and other relatives in a specific order — regardless of what the person actually wanted.
For homeowners, this can mean a house ends up jointly owned by people who never expected to share it, including stepchildren, half-siblings, or relatives who weren’t close to the family. The story below follows one family through exactly that situation.
Simone Kastan was refilling the bird feeder in her backyard in Sykesville, Maryland, when her stepmother called. Her father, Walter, had collapsed while playing soccer with his friends. He was 61. By the time Simone reached the hospital, he was already gone.
For the first week, Simone didn’t think about paperwork at all. She thought about the way her dad hummed off-key while cooking, and how he’d texted her a photo of his tomato plants just three days earlier. It was her older brother, Jonah, who first said the word “estate” out loud, sitting at their father’s kitchen table surrounded by unopened mail.
“Did Dad have a will?” Jonah asked.
Nobody knew. Their father had married Denise, Simone’s stepmother, twelve years earlier, after Simone’s parents divorced. He talked about “getting his affairs in order someday,” but someday never came. The house in Sykesville was in his name alone, bought years before he met Denise. Simone started to worry. Would Denise get the house? Would she and Jonah get anything at all? Was there a chance Walter’s estranged younger brother, who nobody had spoken to in a decade, could somehow have a claim?
The not-knowing was worse than any answer could have been. Simone lay awake calculating scenarios, picturing lawyers, picturing family dinners that would never be the same.
At work, Simone mentioned the situation to a colleague, Monique, who had gone through something similar after her own mother passed. Monique didn’t offer legal advice. She just said, “Talk to an estate attorney before you assume anything. I wasted two months guessing.”
Simone set up a consultation with an estate planning attorney the following week. She brought Jonah and, at Denise’s request, invited her too. Sitting around a conference table, Simone braced herself for bad news.
Instead, the attorney walked them through how intestate succession actually worked in their situation. Because Walter died without a will, Maryland law would divide his estate among Denise and his children according to a set formula, not based on assumptions or the closeness of any relationship. The attorney explained who was legally entitled to what, and just as importantly, who was not. Walter’s estranged brother had no claim at all. That single clarification lifted a weight Simone had been carrying for weeks.
The relief didn’t erase the complexity. The house still had to go through the probate process, and because there was no will naming an executor, the court would need to appoint one. The attorney helped the family understand the steps: opening the estate, notifying heirs, and eventually deciding whether to sell the Sykesville house or have one family member buy out the others’ shares.
Simone, Jonah, and Denise met twice more, this time working through the actual numbers together instead of guessing in the dark. They agreed that Denise would stay in the house for now, with a formal plan for how her share and the siblings’ shares would eventually be settled. It wasn’t the plan any of them would have picked on their own, but it was one they built together, with clear terms instead of resentment.
Six months later, Simone described the difference as “night and day.” The family still grieved, but the fighting she had feared never happened. Denise texted her recipes. Jonah called just to talk, not just to argue about the house. Simone credited the early meeting with the attorney for turning a potential family fracture into something manageable.
The experience changed something else, too. Simone and Jonah both sat down with the same attorney a few months later to create their own wills. Simone didn’t want her own kids to ever face the uncertainty she had just lived through.
Simone’s story is common in Maryland and DC, especially among blended families, second marriages, and homeowners who simply never got around to writing a will. When there’s no will, state intestacy law decides who inherits — not the people left behind, and not always the outcome the deceased would have chosen.
This matters most for homeowners, since a house is usually a family’s largest asset and the one most likely to sit in limbo during probate. Without a will, a surviving spouse may end up sharing ownership with children from a different relationship, siblings may need court involvement just to agree on next steps, and the process typically takes longer and costs more than it would with a clear estate plan in place. A will can act as a fast pass through probate, naming an executor and spelling out exactly who gets what, which removes much of the guesswork Simone’s family had to work through after the fact.
The good news is that this outcome is entirely preventable. Having a will in place means a family never has to wonder whether Maryland’s default rules match what their loved one actually wanted. For homeowners specifically, some families also explore tools like a transfer on death deed, which can let a house pass directly to a chosen person without going through probate at all.
If you’re facing a similar situation, or simply don’t want your own family to face one, the first step is understanding where things actually stand — not guessing. An estate planning attorney can walk you through how Maryland’s intestacy rules would apply to your specific family, what your options are if a loved one has already passed without a will, and how to put your own plan in place so the decisions stay in your hands.
For homeowners who are ready to take that step, the Basic Estate Plan Package is a useful starting point, and the estate planning services page has more detail on how the process works from the first meeting through signing your documents.
If there are no joint owners and the deed does not otherwise designate a beneficiary, the house becomes part of the deceased person’s estate and typically passes through probate. Maryland’s intestacy laws determine who inherits an ownership share, which often depends on whether the person had a spouse, children, or both. In many cases, this means the house ends up owned jointly by multiple family members rather than going to one person outright.
Not always. In Maryland, if the deceased person had children, the surviving spouse typically shares the estate with those children rather than receiving everything. The exact split depends on family circumstances, so it’s worth reviewing your specific situation with an attorney rather than assuming.
Generally, stepchildren do not automatically inherit under intestacy law unless they were legally adopted. This can come as a surprise to blended families, which is one reason having a will matters even more when stepchildren are part of the picture.
Probate without a will often takes longer than probate with one, since the court may need to appoint an executor (called a personal representative) and confirm the family relationships before assets can be distributed. Timelines vary, but families should expect the process to take several months at minimum.
Yes. Even though the law sets the formula, families can still disagree about practical matters, like whether to sell a house, who lives in it in the meantime, or how to divide personal belongings. Working through these questions early, ideally with guidance, can prevent small disagreements from becoming lasting rifts.
Yes, DC and Maryland each have their own intestate succession rules, and the details can differ depending on family structure. Anyone dealing with an estate that crosses the DC-Maryland line should confirm which state’s law applies to which assets.
