If a person dies ‘intestate’ (i.e. they did not have a valid Will at the time of their death), the intestacy ‘rules’ direct the order in which relatives inherit assets from an intestate person, and are broadly:

Who can inherit if there's no will - Citizens Advice

1. If the intestate is married or in a civil partnership, with no children

Where the intestate had a spouse or civil partner, but no children, the spouse or civil partner will inherit the entire estate. This means that if the deceased was separated from their spouse, but still legally married, their spouse will inherit their estate.

This also means that if you are in a long-term or cohabiting relationship, you will not automatically inherit from your partner if they pass away. For example, when Liam Payne (of the boy band One Direction) passed away, his girlfriend at the time of his death, Kate Cassidy, would not be entitled to anything under the intestacy rules.

If a person wants their partner to receive anything from their estate, the only way to ensure this (if they remained unmarried) would be to make some provision in a Will.

There is clearly a high risk of matters going seriously wrong in situations like this. Most people, if asked, would want their current partner to receive something (if not everything they own) in the event of their death. Without a Will, there is a high risk that unmarried partners, including long-term cohabitees or fiancée/fiancé’s will be left with nothing. It is also possible that, without other close family, a long-lost relative, or someone with whom the deceased person did not have a relationship, could inherit their assets instead.

The time of separation and/or divorce is a good time to consider preparing or updating your Will, in the same way as other important life events like purchasing a property, obtaining valuable assets, starting a company or having a child.  

2. If the intestate is married or in a civil partnership, and has children

If the estate is worth less than £322,000, the estate is inherited in full by the spouse or civil partner, and the children receive nothing.

If the estate is worth over £322,000, the spouse will receive:

1. The personal belongings of the intestate person;
2. The first £322,000 of the estate; and
3. Half of the remaining estate (with the other half of the estate being split between their children).

That means that if the estate was worth £500,000, the spouse will receive £322,000, and £89,000 (half of the remaining £178,000).

The intestate’s children will receive the remaining £89,000, split equally between them. Therefore, if the intestate had a spouse and 4 children, each child would receive £22,250.

If any of the children pre-decease the intestate, their children (so the intestate’s grandchildren or great-grandchildren) will inherit their share, also split equally based on the number of children.

3. If the intestate is not married, but has children

The intestate’s estate passes entirely to the children, in equal shares. As there is no legally recognised “partner” other than a spouse, there is no sum ‘ring-fenced’ for the partner, regardless of how long they may have been together. Contrary to popular believe a “common law wife/husband” does not exist.

As seen in Liam Payne’s estate, as above, the entire estate passed to his son Bear (to be managed by his ex-partner Cheryl Cole as Bear’s mother).

4. If the intestate has no spouse or children

Here, the estate passes to extended members of the intestate’s family, in the following order. If there is one person in the first category, they take the entire estate, and no one in the categories below will inherit anything. If there is more than one person in the same category, they share the estate equally in the same way as children.

a)    Grand-children or great-grandchildren

b)    Parents

c)     Full-siblings (or if they have pre-deceased the intestate, then their children or grandchildren (i.e. the intestate’s nieces or nephews)

d)    Half-siblings (or if they have pre-deceased the intestate, then their children or grandchildren (i.e. the intestate’s nieces or nephews)

e)    Grandparents

f)      Full aunts or uncles (or if they have pre-deceased the intestate, then their children or grandchildren (i.e. the intestate’s cousins)

g)    Half aunts or uncles (or if they have pre-deceased the intestate, then their children or grandchildren (i.e. the intestate’s cousins)

h)    If none of the above classes can be found, the Crown

Partial intestacy

It is possible that if your Will does not meet certain requirements (for example, you married after the Will was signed), it can be deemed invalid. This can result in your entire estate, or part of it, passing under the rules of intestacy, so it is important to review your Will regularly.

For example, if a person had a pre-existing Will, but subsequently married, the Will could be deemed invalid as a result of the marriage. That could result in the estate passing under the intestacy rules (i.e., a share being inherited directly by minor children as opposed to the entire estate being received by the spouse), which could have unforeseen and unintended practical implications.

It is important to know how a marriage can impact the validity of a Will, and it is another example of a situation that should result in a Will being reviewed.

Property that passes outside of intestacy

Certain types of property, such as properties held as ‘joint tenants’, pass on death ‘outside’ of your Will. This means that even if your Will is valid, this property will pass to the joint owner automatically and not in accordance with the terms of your Will.  

It is also important to consider this on separation, as if you own a joint property with your spouse or former spouse (even if you are divorced), they may inherit the property.

The above examples highlight the importance of maintaining a valid Will, even if it might be a difficult or upsetting subject to consider.