When someone dies without a will in Ontario, the Succession Law Reform Act divides the estate — not the family, and not what anyone believed the person wanted. Enter an estate value to see the actual split.
Succession Law Reform Act ss. 45–46; O. Reg. 54/95 s. 1 as amended by O. Reg. 122/21. Checked against e-Laws on 28 August 2026.
Two provisions do the work. Section 45 gives a surviving spouse the preferential share off the top — currently $350,000, set by regulation. Section 46 then divides what is left: the spouse takes half the residue where there is one child, and one third where there are two or more.
If the estate is worth less than the preferential share, the spouse takes all of it and the children receive nothing. That surprises people, and it is the most common reason an intestacy turns into a dispute.
It assumes every child is a child of both spouses. Blended families change the answer, and change it in ways that are rarely what anyone intended.
It also assumes everything passes through the estate. Jointly held property, registered plans with a named beneficiary and life insurance usually pass outside the estate entirely — so the intestacy rules never touch them. In most estates that is where the real money is.
A common-law partner is not a spouse for these purposes. Someone who lived with the deceased for decades inherits nothing on an intestacy and has to bring a claim to get anything at all.
The spouse takes the preferential share first — $350,000 for anyone who died on or after 1 March 2021, and $200,000 for deaths before that date. If there are no children the spouse takes the whole estate. If there is one child the spouse also takes half of what remains after the preferential share; with two or more children, one third.
No. For intestacy purposes "spouse" means a married spouse. A common-law partner inherits nothing automatically, however long the relationship lasted, and has to advance a dependant support claim or a trust claim to receive anything.
The estate goes to the parents, then to brothers and sisters, then to nieces and nephews, then to the next of kin by degree of consanguinity. If nobody qualifies, it escheats to the Crown.
Usually not. Property held in joint tenancy passes to the surviving owner by right of survivorship, and registered plans and insurance with a named beneficiary pay out directly. None of that forms part of the estate, so the intestacy rules never reach it.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm your exact Land Transfer Tax and closing costs in writing.