If any part of an Ohio decedent's estate is not effectively disposed of by will, the intestate share will be distributed in the following order and manner:
A surviving spouse is generally first in line to get any assets from the intestate estate. However, the amount a surviving spouse is entitled to varies as follows:
1. If there are no children of decedent or their lineal descendants, or if all of decedent's children are also children of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse is entitled to the entire intestate estate.
2. If there is one child of the decedent or the child's lineal descendants survive and the surviving spouse is not the natural or adoptive parent of the decedent's child, the surviving spouse is entitled to the first $20,000 plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate. The remainder goes to the child or the child's lineal descendants, per stirpes.
3. If there is a spouse and more than one child or their lineal descendants surviving, the surviving spouse gets the first $60,000 if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of one, but not all, of the children, or the first $20,000 if the spouse is the natural or adoptive parent of none of the children, plus one-third of the balance of the intestate estate. The remainder goes to the children equally, or to the lineal descendants of any deceased child, per stirpes.
Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse as indicated above, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes as follows to:
1. Decedent's children or their lineal descendants, per stirpes.
2. Decedent's parent or parents equally.
3. Decedent's brothers and sisters or their lineal descendants, per stirpes.
4. One-half to the paternal grandparents of the decedent equally, or to the survivor of them, and one-half to the maternal grandparents of the decedent equally, or to the survivor of them.
5. One-half to the lineal descendants of the deceased grandparents, per stirpes. If there are no such lineal descendants, then to the surviving grandparents or their lineal descendants, per stirpes. If there are no surviving grandparents or their lineal descendants, then generally to the next of kin of the decedent.
6. Stepchildren or their lineal descendants, per stirpes.
If there is no taker under any of the above provisions, the intestate estate escheats (i.e., reverts or passes) to the state of Ohio. Personal property is collected and paid over to the county treasurer of the county where the estate is administered for use in the county's school fund. Any real property located within the state is sold and the proceeds are split between state and local coffers.
Ohio's intestate succession laws, as well as other related laws, can be found in Title 21 of the Ohio Revised Code.
http://answers.uslegal.com/questions.php?q=1023
In Ohio, we have been told that when there are no children to inherit, the brothers and sisters (as next of kin) can come in and take whatever they want if husband and wife are deceased in a common accident and no will exists.