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People who die without a will are said to die intestate, and their property is distributed according to the laws of intestate succession. Washington's laws of intestate succession laws establish a hierarchy or inheritors who receive property from an intestate estate based on their relationship to the decedent. RCW 11.04.015 states that when a person dies intestate, the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner receives all of the decedent's estate, unless there are surviving children or parents. If, for example, there is a surviving spouse and a parent, the spouse receives three-quarters of the estate with one-quarter going to the surviving parent.

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