What happens if I die without a will?

If someone dies and hasn’t left a valid will, the rules of intestacy apply during the probate process. This means the deceased person’s estate is sorted according to UK Government rules.

According to the charity Will Aid, nearly half of those aged 55 to 79 don’t have a will in place. But while the thought of focusing on your final wishes can be off-putting, it’s a simple way to protect your loved ones.

But what are the intestacy rules? How do they settle the deceased person's estate? And what happens if no relatives can be found? Our simple guide to intestacy and inheritance provides all the information you might need.

What is intestacy?

The rules of intestacy decide what happens to the estate of someone who dies intestate or without leaving a will. 

Under the rules, the estate passes to family members, such as spouses or children, in a specific priority order. The process does not consider any wishes the deceased person may have shared in their lifetime. This is why it’s so important to write a will.

It’s also possible to be ‘partially intestate’. This can happen where someone has a valid will but some of the assets can't be passed on.

Who inherits under intestacy rules?

Intestacy rules follow a logical pattern. Your estate passes to your closest living relative or relatives, starting with your spouse or civil partner – even if you’re separated but not divorced. Wherever the estate goes, inheritance tax will be due. 

The Government has a useful intestacy tool to show how your estate is shared out if there’s no will.

The rules of intestacy will also determine who is responsible for executing the estate, with the responsibility usually falling to whoever is first in line to inherit.

That means this role, which is called the administrator rather than the executor when someone dies intestate, usually goes to a family member.

Married partners and civil partners

All married and civil partners will inherit via intestacy rules if they were legally married or in a civil partnership at the time of death. If you leave behind children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a spouse or civil partner, your partner inherits:

• All your personal belongings
• The first £322,000 of the estate
• Half the value of anything that remains.

Your children take the other half. But if there are no children, your partner inherits everything.

Under intestacy rules, unmarried couples have no rights. This means that if you die, your cohabiting partner won't receive a penny from your estate. It automatically goes to your children or your next closest living relative.

If your children have died, your estate passes to your grandchildren or greatgrandchildren. If you don’t have any, the order of priority is as follows:

• Parents
• Full-blood siblings
• Nephews and nieces
• Half-blood siblings
• Half-blood nephews and nieces
• Grandparents
• Uncles and aunts
• Cousins
• Half-uncles and half-aunts
• Half-cousins

Jointly owned properties

What happens to jointly owned properties upon death depends on how the title deeds show ownership. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, you can either be ‘joint tenants’ or ‘tenants in common’.

If one of the joint tenants dies, the other automatically becomes the sole owner of the property. For example, if a mother and a daughter are joint tenants of a property and the mother passes away, the property passes to the daughter.

Things are different if you’re tenants in common. In this scenario, when one of the property owners passes away, their share of the property passes through their will rather than directly to the other owner. If there’s no will, the rules of intestacy apply, and the estate is shared between relevant family members.

Who inherits if no relatives can be found?

If someone dies leaving no living relatives who can be traced, their estate passes to the Crown. The exception to this is:

• If the deceased person lived in Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside or Furness, their estate passes to the Duchy of Lancaster
• If the deceased person lived in Cornwall, their estate passes to the Duchy of Cornwall.

Close friends, carers, unmarried partners and relatives by marriage cannot inherit. Long-lost relatives occasionally turn up or are traced by heir hunters or probate detectives. They can lodge inheritance claims for ownerless property with the Treasury Solicitor’s Department (or the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland). If they're successful, the estate and any interest earned on it will be legally passed to the beneficiary.

What if my family want to change how my estate is shared out?

It’s possible to alter how an estate is shared out after someone dies without leaving a will. You need to make a Deed of Family Arrangement, which is also known as a Deed of Variation. This allows someone who is excluded from inheriting (such as a surviving, unmarried partner) to get a share of the estate. However, for this to happen, all legal beneficiaries affected must agree to the change in writing.

To avoid getting caught out and ensure your wishes are followed, it is important to write a will. Please note that the rules are slightly different in Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

What if the will is invalid?

When a will is invalid, one of two scenarios unfold. If the deceased person previously created a legally valid will, their estate is divided up according to the contents of that will. If the deceased person never made a valid will, the estate is distributed according to intestacy rules. Some of the reasons a will may be considered invalid include:

• Lack of proper signatures or witnesses
• Undue influence – the deceased person was manipulated during the will-writing process
• Testamentary capacity – the person’s mental ability to create a will. If a person has diagnosed dementia, or other reasons to not understand what was being included in the will, this could be challenged in court. It’s advisable to get medical confirmation of their ability to make and understand the will.
• It has been forged

A will can also be revoked if you marry or form a civil partnership, unless it states that it was ‘written in contemplation of the marriage’.

Even if you’ve not tied the knot since making a will (or are planning to), it’s sensible to review your will regularly.

You can challenge a will if you believe it’s invalid.

How can you be sure your wealth is distributed properly?

To ensure your will is valid and your estate goes to your loved ones, you could get help from:

• A solicitor or professional will writer who belongs to a professional body such as the Institute of Professional Will Writers or the Society of Will Writers.
• A charity will writing campaign such as Free Wills Month or Will Aid. You will have a basic will made for you in exchange for a donation to charity.
• Saga Legal, who partner with Co-op Legal Services to provide regulated legal services.