Probate in North Dakota: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will

North Dakota requires probate for most estates, though the rules allow for some assets to circumvent the process if you’ve structured them correctly. When a deceased person does not have a will, this is called intestate succession, a set of rules that determines who inherits from an estate. An estate will go through probate in North Dakota if there is no will, with a few exceptions.

• Life insurance policies with a beneficiary  

• Retirement, bank, or brokerage accounts with a designated beneficiary

• Property owned jointly with right of survivorship

If none of these apply, an estate without a will does go through probate in North Dakota. If the personal property is valued at $100,000 or less (raised from $50,000 in 2025) and there is no real property, heirs can collect it by affidavit 30 days after death without a court filing.

Succession Laws Without a Will in North Dakota

North Dakota handles intestate succession slightly differently than neighboring states. North Dakota is not a community property state, meaning that each spouse owns what is titled in their own name. North Dakota follows the Uniform Probate Code, which can help to streamline probate proceedings.

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If none of the exceptions above apply, the estate will go through probate and be distributed according to the following lines of succession.

• If you have no descendants and no living parents, your spouse inherits everything.

• If your children are all shared with your spouse, and your spouse has no other descendants, your spouse inherits everything.

• If your children are shared with your spouse, but your spouse also has descendants from another relationship, your spouse inherits the first $225,000 of your estate, plus 1/2 of the balance. Your descendants inherit the rest.

• If you have children who are not your spouse's, your spouse inherits the first $150,000 of your estate, plus 1/2 of the balance. Your children inherit the rest.

• If you have no descendants but living parents, your spouse inherits the first $300,000 of your estate, plus 3/4 of the balance. Your parents inherit the rest.

• If you have children but no spouse, your children inherit everything, divided equally.

• If you have no spouse and no children, your parents inherit everything, then your siblings.

North Dakota Probate Process

North Dakota offers informal probate, handled by the court registrar without a hearing and formal probate when a will is contested. Unsupervised administration is the default, so the personal representative can act without court approval for most decisions unless a court orders otherwise. A surviving spouse also has elective share rights if a will leaves them less than the law guarantees.

Avoiding Probate in North Dakota

There are a few reliable ways to keep assets out of probate court entirely.

• A revocable living trust: A living trust lets you have full control over your estate as the trustee and identifies a successor trustee who will manage the distribution after you die.

• Beneficiary designations: A payable-on-death (POD) designation will specify who receives payment at the time of your death and a transfer-on-death (TOD) designation identifies who will become the new owner upon your death.

• Joint ownership with right of survivorship: This designation can give your spouse or another co-owner automatic ownership of any joint property.

Visit our trust page to learn more about trusts in North Dakota.