If there is no order of succession under an inheritance agreement or a will, the order of succession is determined by law. The legal order of succession is determined on the basis of ‘succession classes’.
In the first succession class, the heirs are the deceased’s children and spouse, each in equal part. If a child does not inherit, their share in succession passes, in equal measure, to that child’s children.
If the deceased’s relatives in the descending order do not inherit the estate, the second succession class consists of the spouse, the deceased’s parents, and those who cohabited with the deceased for at least one year before the death and who, for that reason, took care of a shared household or were dependent on the deceased. Heirs in the second class have an equal share in succession, with the provision that the spouse always inherits at least half of the estate.
If neither the spouse nor any of the parents of the deceased inherit the estate, the heirs in the third class, each inheriting an equal share, are the deceased’s siblings and those who cohabited with the deceased for at least one year before the death and who, for that reason, took care of a shared household or were dependent on the deceased. If a sibling of the deceased does not inherit, their share in succession passes to that sibling’s children (i.e. to the nieces and nephews of the deceased).
If no heirs in the third class inherit the estate, the heirs in the fourth class, each inheriting an equal share, are the deceased’s grandparents.
If no heirs in the fourth class inherit the estate, the only heirs in the fifth class are the grandparents of the deceased’s parents (i.e. the great grandparents of the deceased).
If no heirs in the fifth class inherit the estate, the heirs in the sixth class, each inheriting an equal share, are the children of the children of the deceased’s siblings (i.e. the great nieces and great nephews of the deceased) and the children of the deceased’s grandparents (i.e. aunts and uncles). If no uncles and aunts of the deceased inherit the estate, the heirs are their children (i.e. the cousins of the deceased).
If no one inherits the estate according to the legal order of succession, it is transferred to the state (this is known as ‘escheat’), and the state is treated as the heir-at-law.