It’s a situation no family expects to face, but it happens more often than you might think. When someone dies without a Will — known legally as dying “intestate” — the law decides who inherits, and the outcome can come as a real shock.
The Rules of Intestacy
Without a Will, your estate is distributed according to a fixed set of rules. These rules follow a strict order of priority. If you’re married or in a civil partnership, your spouse receives the first £322,000 of the estate plus personal belongings, and half of anything above that. The remaining half is divided equally among your children.
If there is no surviving spouse, everything passes to your children in equal shares. If there are no children, the estate moves up through parents, siblings, and more distant relatives in a set order.
Who Doesn’t Inherit?
This is where the rules often catch families off guard. Unmarried partners — no matter how long you’ve been together — have no automatic right to inherit under intestacy. The same applies to stepchildren, close friends, and charities you may have supported for years. Without a Will, they receive nothing.
What About the Family Home?
If the property was owned jointly as “joint tenants,” it passes automatically to the surviving owner regardless of intestacy. But if it was held as “tenants in common” — which is increasingly common for tax and care planning reasons — the deceased person’s share forms part of the estate and follows the intestacy rules.
The Simple Solution
A Will puts you in control. It ensures the people you care about are looked after, avoids unnecessary confusion, and can make the administration of your estate significantly quicker and less stressful for those you leave behind.
At Acorn Solicitors, we make writing a Will straightforward and affordable. If you haven’t got one in place, now is always the right time to start.
