The intestacy rules

Clients often assume that their estate will pass to their spouse or civil partner automatically and so there is no need for them to put in place a Will. This assumption is not, in fact, accurate in all circumstances.

If someone dies without having made a Will (or having made a Will which they later revoked, or having made an invalid Will) then they are said to be “intestate”.

Where someone dies intestate, the law determines how their estate is to be distributed.

Who is entitled under these rules (the intestacy rules) depends on the value of the deceased's estate and which members of the deceased's family are surviving. How the intestacy rules work depends on when the deceased died. This article comments on the position for deaths on or after 1 October 2014.

Read the full article here.