What is intestacy?

When someone passes away and they have not left a Will, their inheritance will be determined by the rules of intestacy. These rules make no provision for unmarried and unregistered partners. However, they can be used to make a valid inheritance claim. The rules recognise natural and adopted children but not stepchildren. Although, stepchildren can also make a valid claim against the estate.

What are the basic rules?

Under the rules of intestacy, the estate will be divided between the deceased’s relatives in a certain way:

• If the person was married and had no children, all the estate will go to their spouse;
• If they were married and had children, the first £270,000 of their estate will go to their spouse, along with any personal possessions. Anything after £270,000 will be divided, the spouse getting 50% and the children are entitled to divide the other 50% between them.
• If the deceased was not married but had children, the whole of their estate will go to them.
• However, if they had no children and were not married, it can go to the parents, siblings or other relatives and may, in some instances, be extremely diluted.
• Joint assets will not pass under the rules of intestacy but instead pass to the surviving joint owner.

What is partial intestacy?

Partial intestacy may occur where an individual has failed to make a valid Will or has left a Will, but their Will does not fully deal with the whole of their estate. For example, someone may have left their estate to several people in varying shares. If one of those beneficiaries died during their lifetime and no alternative provision was made in the Will, the share to them will fail. As no alternative was made in the will as to who should benefit in this circumstance, this share falls into intestacy.

The Inheritance Act

The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 allows certain people to claim increased financial provision from a deceased person’s estate where the Will or the operation of the statutory rules, which apply on intestacy, fail to make reasonable provision for them. This Act enables a child of the deceased to make a claim against his or her estate in circumstances whereby the deceased did not make reasonable financial provision for them in their will (or by intestacy). The Act seeks to protect those who are financially dependent on another person who dies without leaving them with a sufficient inheritance for their needs. The persons who may apply for an order under the Act are the deceased’s surviving spouse or civil partner, child or person treated by the deceased as a child of their family, a child in any family in which the deceased at any time stood in the role of parent, cohabitee and any other person who was being wholly or partly maintained by the deceased immediately before their death. The application must normally be made within six months of the date of grant of representation.

Clarity is your friend

The only way to make it absolutely clear who should inherit your property and possessions and avoid partial intestacy after you pass away, is by making a will. Our Private Client team can assist you with this and make your will to your liking to ensure you are happy with what will happen to your assets when you are gone.