What happens if you die without a will in the UK?
If you die without a valid will, you're said to have died "intestate". Your estate is then shared out under fixed legal rules, which may not match what you'd have wanted.
Who inherits under the rules of intestacy?
In England and Wales, the rules put people in a strict order. If you're married or in a civil partnership and have no children, your spouse inherits everything.
If you have a spouse and children, your spouse gets all your personal belongings, the first £322,000 of the estate and half of anything above that. Your children share the other half equally, receiving it at 18.
If there's no spouse, everything goes to your children. If there are no children, it passes to your parents, then brothers and sisters, then half-siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and finally half-aunts and uncles. Where a relative has died, their children can usually take their share.
What happens to unmarried partners?
Unmarried partners inherit nothing under the rules of intestacy, however long you've lived together. Jointly owned property held as "joint tenants" passes to them automatically, but anything in your sole name doesn't. A partner can make a claim through the courts under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, but it's slow, stressful and not guaranteed.
Stepchildren, friends and charities
Stepchildren who haven't been legally adopted, friends, carers and charities don't inherit anything without a will. If you have no living relatives who qualify, your whole estate goes to the Crown.
Who deals with the estate?
Without a will there's no executor, so a close relative, usually the spouse or an adult child, applies to the probate registry for "letters of administration". This gives them the legal right to collect assets, pay debts and share out what's left under the intestacy rules.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
The rules above apply in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own intestacy laws with different amounts and shares. The simplest way to make sure your money goes where you want, wherever you live, is to make a will.