Partial Intestacy

A partial intestacy arises when a person leaves a valid Will, but that Will fails to deal with all of their property. This commonly happens when there is no residuary clause to catch leftover assets, or when a gift of the residue fails because the beneficiary died first (a lapsed gift). The specific gifts in the Will still take effect, but the undisposed-of portion is distributed as if the person had died intestate.

Partial intestacy is usually an accident of poor drafting and is avoided by including a properly worded residuary clause. The leftover assets follow the same statutory order as a full intestacy in the relevant state. Example: Tom's Will left his car to his brother but said nothing about the rest of his assets, creating a partial intestacy over his bank accounts and home.