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Dying Without a Will

N.D.C.C. § 30.1-04-02 — the spouse's share depends on which children and parents survive

  • The surviving spouse takes everything when no child or parent survives, or when every child is also the spouse's and the spouse has no other children.
  • With no children but a surviving parent, the spouse takes the first $300,000 plus three-fourths of the rest.
  • When all the children are the spouse's but the spouse has other children too, the spouse takes the first $225,000 plus one-half of the rest.
  • When some of the decedent's children are not the spouse's, the spouse takes the first $150,000 plus one-half of the rest.
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What the spouse does not take goes to the descendants, then the parents, then the parents' descendants, then grandparents' lines. An heir must outlive the decedent by one hundred twenty hours. With no taker at all, the estate goes to the state for the common schools.

Sources for this section (4)
  1. N.D.C.C. § 30.1-04-02 — (2-102) Share of spouse
  2. N.D.C.C. § 30.1-04-03 — (2-103) Share of heirs other than surviving spouse
  3. N.D.C.C. § 30.1-04-04 — (2-104) Requirement that heir survive decedent for one hundred twenty hours - Individual in gestation
  4. N.D.C.C. § 30.1-04-05 — (2-105) No taker

Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed North Dakota attorney.

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