What Happens If You Die Without A Will?

What happens if I die without a will?

If you die without a will in place, your assets are dealt with according to laws of 'intestacy'. These laws are the government's way of deciding how everything you own is split up. With most of the UK not having a will in place, these laws do come into effect quite often. You may have had experience, or at least know someone who has, of the burden this can place on a family.

Rules of intestacy

In England and Wales these rules are used to define how someone’s estate is dealt with if they die without having put their wishes into a will.

Here we go through some scenarios that could occur if you're currently dealing with losing a loved one who had no will in place. You can use this government tool to check for yourself if you're still unsure.

• You're married or in a civil partnership with no children or grandchildren:

Your surviving partner (husband, wife or civil partner) inherits all your estate (money, property and possessions) as long as they survive for 28 days.

• You're married or in a civil partnership and have children:

For deaths on or after 26 July 2023 your husband, wife or civil partner will inherit up to £322,000 (known as ‘statutory legacy’ amount), and your personal possessions, whatever their value. What is remaining will be shared as follows:

Your husband, wife or civil partner gets half of what is left (if any). The other half is then divided equally between your children. If any children have died, then their children (your grandchildren) will inherit in their place.

For deaths prior to 26 July 2023 see here for statutory legacy amounts.

• You're unmarried and have children or grandchildren:

The estate is shared equally between the children or their descendants, if any of them have died (your grandchildren).

• You're unmarried and have no children:

Your estate and assets are left to close relatives in the following order:

• Parents
• Brothers and sisters. If any of them have died, then their children (your nephews or nieces) will inherit in their place.
• Half brothers and half sisters (who you share one parent with). If any of them have died, then their children (your half nephews or half nieces) will inherit in their place.
• Grandparents
• Aunts and Uncles. If any of them have died, then their children (your cousins) will inherit in their place.
• Half Aunts and Uncles (with one parent, who is your grandparent). If any of them have died, then their children (your half cousins) will inherit in their place.

Having to go through this process can be stressful for a family, especially if the results don't reflect your wishes. In addition, it’s impersonal and takes away the chance for someone who has died to leave behind specific gifts and messages that can reflect who they were as a person.

What are the costs of dying without a will

One function of a will is that it can allow someone to list all of their assets in one place as an addendum to the will. Without this list there it can be hard to track down all of your loved one’s estate. For example, if a family didn’t know about an existing financial account, it may end up not being dealt with.

It's estimated in a 2014 study that it can cost on average £9,700 in lost assets for families dealing with an estate when there's no will. Given the number of us who don't have a will in place, or an up-to-date one this is in fact very common.

In addition to this, when there's no will it's then left to family members to organise a funeral and wake without any input from the person who has died. When someone has funeral wishes in place and it can give you peace of mind as you know that you're respecting your loved one's wishes.