The following are excerpts from Nebraska’s intestacy laws. Please reference the full body of the Nebraska Probate Code at the Nebraska Legislature’s site for any changes to those laws that may not be reflected below.
You can also open the Nebraska Intestacy Evaluator™ to see the distribution of a Nebraska intestate estate based upon unique family and financial circumstances.
30-2301. Intestate estate
Any part of the estate of a decedent not effectively disposed of by his will passes to his heirs as prescribed in the following sections of this code.
30-2302. Share of the spouse
The intestate share of the surviving spouse is:
(1) if there is no surviving issue or parent of the decedent, the entire intestate estate;
(2) if there is no surviving issue but the decedent is survived by a parent or parents, the first one hundred thousand dollars, plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate;
(3) if there are surviving issue all of whom are issue of the surviving spouse also, the first one hundred thousand dollars, plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate;
(4) if there are surviving issue one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse, one-half of the intestate estate.
30-2303. Share of heirs other than surviving spouse
The part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse under section 30-2302, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes as follows:
(1) to the issue of the decedent; if they are all of the same degree of kinship to the decedent they take equally, but if of unequal degree, then those of more remote degree take by representation;
(2) if there is no surviving issue, to his parent or parents equally;
(3) if there is no surviving issue or parent, to the issue of the parents or either of them by representation;
(4) if there is no surviving issue, parent or issue of a parent, but the decedent is survived by one or more grandparents or issue of grandparents, half of the estate passes to the paternal grandparents if both survive, or to the surviving paternal grandparent, or to the issue of the paternal grandparents if both are deceased, the issue taking equally if they are all of the same degree of kinship to the decedent, but if of unequal degree those of more remote degree take by representation; and the other half passes to the maternal relatives in the same manner; but if there be no surviving grandparent or issue of grandparent on either the paternal or the maternal side, the entire estate passes to the relatives on the other side in the same manner as the half;
(5) if there is no surviving issue, parent, issue of a parent, grandparent or issue of a grandparent, the entire estate passes to the next of kin in equal degree, excepting that when there are two or more collateral kindred in equal degree, but claiming through different ancestors, those who claim through the nearest ancestor shall be preferred to those claiming through a more remote ancestor.
30-2304. Requirement that heir survive decedent for one hundred twenty hours
Any person who fails to survive the decedent by one hundred twenty hours is deemed to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of homestead allowance, exempt property and intestate succession, and the decedent’s heirs are determined accordingly. If the time of death of the decedent or of the person who would otherwise be an heir, or the times of death of both, cannot be determined, and it cannot be established that the person who would otherwise be an heir has survived the decedent by one hundred twenty hours, it is deemed that the person failed to survive for the required period. This section is not to be applied where its application would result in a taking of intestate estate by the state under section 30-2305.
30-2305. Escheat; no taker
If there is no taker under the provisions of this article, the intestate estate passes to the state.
30-2306. Representation
If representation is called for by this code, the estate is divided into as many shares as there are surviving heirs in the nearest degree of kinship and deceased persons in the same degree who left issue who survive the decedent, each surviving heir in the nearest degree receiving one share and the share of each deceased person in the same degree being divided among his issue in the same manner.
30-2307. Kindred of half blood
The degrees of kindred shall be computed according to the rule of civil law. Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.
30-2308. Afterborn heirs
Relatives of the decedent conceived before his death but born thereafter inherit as if they had been born in the lifetime of the decedent.