The following are excerpts from Iowa’s intestacy laws. Please reference the full body of the Iowa Probate Code at the Iowa Legislature’s site for any changes to those laws that may not be reflected below.
You can also open the Iowa Intestacy Evaluator™ to see the distribution of a Iowa intestate estate based upon unique family and financial circumstances.
633.211. Share of surviving spouse if decedent left no issue or left issue all of whom are issue of surviving spouse
If the decedent dies intestate leaving a surviving spouse and leaving no issue or leaving issue all of whom are the issue of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse shall receive the following share:
1. All the value of all the legal or equitable estates in real property possessed by the decedent at any time during the marriage, which have not been sold on execution or by other judicial sale, and to which the surviving spouse has made no relinquishment of right.
2. All personal property that, at the time of death, was, in the hands of the decedent as the head of a family, exempt from execution.
3. All other personal property of the decedent which is not necessary for the payment of debts and charges.
633.212. Share of surviving spouse if decedent left issue some of whom are not issue of surviving spouse
If the decedent dies intestate leaving a surviving spouse and leaving issue some of whom are not the issue of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse shall receive the following share:
1. One-half in value of all the legal or equitable estates in real property possessed by the decedent at any time during the marriage, which have not been sold on execution or by other judicial sale, and to which the surviving spouse has made no relinquishment of right.
2. All personal property that, at the time of death, was in the hands of the decedent as the head of a family, exempt from execution.
3. One-half of all other personal property of the decedent which is not necessary for the payment of debts and charges.
4. If the property received by the surviving spouse under subsections 1, 2 and 3 of this section is not equal in value to the sum of fifty thousand dollars, then so much additional of any remaining homestead interest and of the remaining real and personal property of the decedent that is subject to payment of debts and charges against the decedent’s estate, after payment of the debts and charges, even to the extent of the whole of the net estate, as necessary to make the amount of fifty thousand dollars.
633.218. Right of spouse to select property
After such proceedings, and after payment of debts and charges, the surviving spouse shall have the right to select from the property so appraised, at its appraised value thus fixed, property equal in value to the amount to which the spouse is entitled under section 633.211 or 633.212 which selection shall be in writing filed with the clerk of court.
633.219. Share of others than surviving spouse
The part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse, or if there is no surviving spouse, the entire net estate passes as follows:
1. To the issue of the decedent per stirpes.
2. If there is no surviving issue, to the parents of the decedent equally; and if either parent is dead, the portion that would have gone to such deceased parent shall go to the survivor.
3. If there is no person to take under either subsection 1 or 2 of this section, the estate shall be divided and set aside into two equal shares. One share shall be distributed to the issue of the decedent’s mother per stirpes and one share shall be distributed to the issue of the decedent’s father per stirpes. If there are no surviving issue of one deceased parent, the entire estate passes to the issue of the other deceased parent in accordance with this subsection.
4. If there is no person to take under subsection 1, 2, or 3 of this section, and the decedent is survived by one or more grandparents or issue of grandparents, half the estate passes to the paternal grandparents, if both survive, or to the surviving paternal grandparent if only one survives. If neither paternal grandparent survives, this half share shall be further divided into two equal subshares. One subshare shall be distributed to the issue of the decedent’s paternal grandmother per stirpes and one subshare shall be distributed to the issue of the decedent’s paternal grandfather per stirpes. If there are no surviving issue of one deceased paternal grandparent, the entire half share passes to the issue of the other deceased paternal grandparent and their issue in the same manner. The other half of the decedent’s estate passes to the maternal grandparents and their issue in the same manner. If there are no surviving grandparents or issue of grandparents on either the paternal or maternal side, the entire estate passes to the decedent’s surviving grandparents or their issue on the other side in accordance with this subsection.
5. If there is no person to take under subsection 1, 2, 3, or 4 of this section, and the decedent is survived by one or more great-grandparents or issue of great-grandparents, the estate passes equally to each set of great-grandparents, or to their issue, if any survive, per stirpes.
6. If there is no person to take under subsection 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 of this section, the portion uninherited shall go to the issue of the deceased spouse of the intestate, per stirpes. If the intestate has had more than one spouse who died in lawful wedlock, it shall be equally divided between the issue, per stirpes, of those deceased spouses.
7. If there is no person who qualifies under either subsection 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 of this section, the intestate property shall escheat to the state of Iowa.
633.220. Afterborn heirs – time of determining relationship
Heirs of an intestate, begotten before the intestate’s death but born thereafter, shall inherit as if they had been born in the lifetime of the intestate and had survived the intestate. With this exception, the intestate succession shall be determined by the relationships existing at the time of the death of the intestate.
633.220A. Posthumous child
1. For the purposes of rules relating to intestate succession, a child of an intestate conceived and born after the intestate’s death or born as the result of the implantation of an embryo after the death of the intestate is deemed a child of the intestate as if the child had been born during the lifetime of the intestate and had survived the intestate, if all of the following conditions are met:
a. A genetic parent-child relationship between the child and the intestate is established.
b. The intestate, in a signed writing, authorized the intestate’s surviving spouse to use the deceased parent’s genetic material to initiate the posthumous procedure that resulted in the child’s birth.
c. The child is born within two years of the death of the intestate.
2. Any heir of the intestate whose interest in the intestate’s estate would be reduced by the birth of a child born as provided in subsection 1 shall have one year from the birth of the child within which to bring an action challenging the child’s right to inherit under this chapter.
3. For the purposes of this section, “genetic material” means sperm, eggs, or embryos.
633.221. Biological child – inherit from mother
Unless the child has been adopted, a biological child shall inherit from the child’s biological mother, and she from the child.
633.222. Biological child – inherit from father
Unless the child has been adopted, a biological child inherits from the child’s biological father if the evidence proving paternity is available during the father’s lifetime, or if the child has been recognized by the father as his child; but the recognition must have been general and notorious, or in writing. Under such circumstances, if the recognition has been mutual, and the child has not been adopted, the father may inherit from his biological child.
633.223. Effect of adoption
1. Except as provided in subsection 3, a lawful adoption extinguishes the right of intestate succession of an adopted person from and through the adopted person’s biological parents. The adopted person inherits from and through the adoptive parents in the same manner as a biological child inherits from and through the child’s biological parents.
2. Except as provided in subsection 3, a lawful adoption extinguishes the right of intestate succession of a biological parent from and through the parent’s biological child who is adopted. The adoptive parents inherit from and through the adopted person in the same manner as biological parents inherit from and through the parents’ biological child.
3. An adoption of a person by the spouse or surviving spouse of a biological parent has no effect on the relationship for inheritance purposes between the adopted person and that biological parent or biological parent’s heirs. An adoption of a person by the spouse or surviving spouse of a biological parent after the death of the other biological parent has no effect on the relationship for inheritance purposes between the adopted person and the deceased biological parent’s heirs.
4. A person inherits through an adopted person, an adoptive parent, or a biological parent of an adopted person only if the adopted person, adoptive parent, or biological parent of an adopted person would have inherited under subsection 1, 2, or 3.