Intestacy (intestate)

Intestacy is when someone dies without a valid will; they are said to have died intestate. Their estate is then shared out under fixed legal rules: in England and Wales a husband, wife or civil partner comes first, and an unmarried partner inherits nothing under these rules. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own intestacy rules.

Who inherits in England and Wales

The first person on this list who exists inherits. A husband, wife or civil partner with children takes the personal belongings, the first £322,000 of the estate and half of anything above it, and the children share the other half equally. That figure applies to deaths from July 2023 and is reviewed from time to time. A husband, wife or civil partner without children takes everything.

With no husband, wife or civil partner, the children share the estate equally, and a grandchild takes the share of a parent who has died. After them come parents, then brothers and sisters, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles. If there is no relative at all, the estate goes to the Crown, which the law calls bona vacantia.

A husband or wife the person had separated from but not divorced still counts.

Who deals with the estate

There is no executor. The closest relative on the list applies for letters of administration and becomes the administrator, then pays the funeral, the debts and any Inheritance Tax before sharing out the rest.

If you lived together without marrying

A partner who never married cannot inherit or apply to be the administrator. They can bring a claim under the Inheritance Act for reasonable provision, which means a solicitor and a court. The family can also agree among themselves to provide for them, by a deed of variation that the beneficiaries sign.