Information about what happens to your estate if you die without making a will.
Making a Will is relatively straightforward and not very expensive. However, in spite of this, seven out of ten people in the UK die without a Will. This often causes delays, hardship and worry - and even costly legal bills can result if there is confusion and disagreement among those left behind.
Should you die without a Will or if your Will is deemed to be invalid (e.g. if it wasn’t completed or signed correctly) then you are said to have died intestate.
This results in the law deciding who gets what of your estate.
See the full post for fuller details of who gets what if you don’t make a Will.
Dying without leaving a Will could mean…
In the absence of a signed Will the government dictates who gets what of your estate, depending on your domestic circumstances:
Married with Children (separated people are treated under these rules as still being married)
1) Your spouse gets:
a) car and house contents, plus
b) first £125,000 of your estate, plus
c) 6% interest on half of any surplus (only interest, your spouse cannot touch the capital)
2) Your children (stepchildren get nothing) get:
a) half of any excess over £125,000 outright, plus
b) the other half of the excess when your spouse has also died
Married with No Children but with Parents and/or Brothers and Sisters
1) Your spouse gets:
a) car and house contents, plus
b) first £200,000 of your estate, plus
c) half of any excess over £200,000 outright
2) Your parents or (if none alive) your brothers and sisters get:
a) Balance i.e. half of any excess over £200,000 outright
Married with No children and No Parents or Brothers and Sisters
Your spouse gets everything
Single, Widowed or Divorced (but not separated)
Everything goes to your children (if any), otherwise to your parents (if alive), otherwise to your brothers and sisters (or their children), otherwise your grandparents (if alive), otherwise your uncles and aunts (or their children), otherwise to the government!
This information is provided by Will Drafters Ltd. For further information click here then click the Will Facts Section
Important Note
If you have a co-habiting partner, he/she will get none of your estate even if you have been together for 50 years or more
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Thanks for the article. Site bookmarked.
A will drawn up by a Solicitor in one part of England is taken to their client in another part of the country for signature, which is achieved and the document then returned to the first. If the date of the will is incorrect, (dated prior to the client’s date of birth) neither Solicitor corrects the error, is the document rendered invalid by this error. If the client is deceased before the will is published Has the person died intestae?