Skip to content
WILLS · INTESTACY

What happens if you die without a will?

A fixed legal formula — the intestacy rules — decides who inherits, in what order, and who's in charge. It doesn't know who you loved, who you'd fallen out with, or who actually needs it.

And it gives an unmarried partner nothing. England & Wales.

See who'd inherit from you, right now →
The rules, explained for your family

Planning ahead? Right place. Someone died without a will? → Letters of administration · What to do when someone dies

§1The formula, in plain English

Married, or not — two very different outcomes.

If you're married or in a civil partnership, your spouse takes the first slice of everything and shares the rest with your children; if you're not, everything runs down a fixed family ladder. With children, the spouse receives the personal belongings, a fixed first sum — the statutory legacy, £322,000 (in force since 26 July 2023) — and half of everything above it; the children share the other half, held for them until they turn 18. No children: the spouse takes everything. No spouse: children take everything, equally. The formula never asks what you'd have wanted — that was the will's job.

§2The order of who inherits

The ladder, rung by rung.

With no spouse and no children, the estate climbs a strict ladder — each rung inherits everything only if the rung above is empty.

1

Spouse or civil partner (with the split in §1 if there are children)

2

Children (then grandchildren, by substitution)

3

Parents

4

Brothers and sisters

5

Half-siblings

6

Grandparents

7

Aunts and uncles

8

Half-blood aunts and uncles

9

The Crown (bona vacantia) — only if every rung above is empty

Notice who is nowhere on the ladder — that's next.

§3Who gets nothing

The rules are a list of relatives.

The rules are a list of relatives — and everyone not on the list gets nothing, automatically.

Your partner, if you're not married

There is no such thing as a common-law spouse in inheritance law. Twenty years and three children together change nothing: an unmarried partner inherits nothing under the intestacy rules. A court claim for provision may exist — a claim, not an entitlement, and a fight at the worst time.

Stepchildren

Not included unless legally adopted, however long they've been yours.

Friends, carers, godchildren, charities

Every gift you'd have made: not made.

§4The traps inside the formula

Three things people get wrong.

The separated spouse

Separated for years but not divorced? They still inherit. The formula reads marital status, not reality.

The house may not follow the rules

Jointly-owned property can pass to the co-owner by survivorship, outside intestacy entirely; how you own it decides.

Nobody's in charge until the court says so

With no will there's no executor; someone must apply for letters of administration, and a fixed order decides who may.

§5See it, then fix it

Run the formula. Then choose, instead.

You don't have to imagine how the formula treats your family — you can run it. The intestacy checker takes two minutes and shows who'd inherit from you under the rules as they stand. If what it shows isn't what you'd choose — and for anyone unmarried, blended, or mid-divorce it almost never is — the fix is the document the formula only exists to replace: a will, from £149, including registration and 12 months of Will Watch, done in a single sitting.

Intestacy isn't a punishment — it's a default. Defaults are for people who never chose.

Run the intestacy checker Start your will
Figure watch · checked weekly

The statutory legacy figure can change.

Leave an email and we'll send one short note if the intestacy rules or figures on this page change — only when something actually moves.

Email me when intestacy rule changes change. Only when a figure actually moves — never sales.

One email · then we stop · Privacy
FAQCommon questions

Frequently asked

Almost never — the Crown inherits only when the entire family ladder is empty.

The realistic problem isn't the Crown; it's the formula choosing the wrong relatives.
No. Unmarried partners inherit nothing under the rules, regardless of years or children together.

A court claim for provision is possible but is a claim, not a right. This is the strongest single reason to make a will.
With children: belongings, plus the statutory legacy (£322,000), plus half the remainder; children share the other half at 18.

Without children: everything.
An administrator, appointed by the court under letters of administration — a fixed order decides who can apply.
Not unless legally adopted. Blended families are where the formula fails hardest — and where a will matters most.
Yes, fully, until the final order. Intestacy reads marital status only.
No — Scotland's intestacy rules differ substantially. This page is England & Wales.

See your own outcome

Run the two-minute intestacy check.

Run the check

Choose, instead

Make your will — £149, Will Watch included.

Start your will
Related next steps
Who inherits the house?
The full house-specific picture→
Letters of administration
Who can apply, and how→
Does marriage revoke a will?
The wedding-day trap→
Run the intestacy checker
See who'd inherit from you→

Informational, not legal advice, and covers England & Wales only. Scotland's intestacy rules differ substantially.

Part of a working library79form walkthroughs90+free guidesevery calculator & checker

We use first-party analytics only — no third parties, no ad tracking — to see which pages actually help people. You can keep that off. Privacy