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When you die without a will in England and Wales, you die “intestate”, and a strict legal formula, not your wishes, decides who inherits. The rules follow a fixed order of blood relatives and legal spouses. They take no account of who you loved, who depended on you, or what you would have wanted. For many families, the result is a genuine shock.
This guide explains exactly who inherits, how much, and, just as importantly, who inherits nothing.
What happens if you die without a will?
Your estate is distributed under the intestacy rules set out in the Administration of Estates Act 1925. These rules pass your estate to relatives in a strict order of priority. The key points catch most people out: a surviving spouse does not automatically inherit everything, unmarried partners inherit nothing at all, and if no relatives can be found, your estate passes to the Crown.
The order of inheritance: who comes first
The intestacy rules work down a fixed list. The first category that contains a living person inherits; everyone below them gets nothing.
- Spouse or civil partner (and children, if the estate is large enough, see below)
- Children, or their descendants, if there is no surviving spouse
- Parents
- Brothers and sisters (then their children)
- Half-brothers and half-sisters
- Grandparents
- Aunts and uncles (then their children)
- The Crown, if no relatives can be traced (known as bona vacantia)
Notice who is not on this list: unmarried partners, step-children, close friends, and carers. None of them inherit under intestacy, however close the relationship.
How much does a spouse inherit? The £322,000 statutory legacy
This is where the surprises begin. If you leave a spouse or civil partner and children, your spouse does not automatically get everything. Instead, your spouse receives:
- all your personal possessions;
- the first £322,000 of your estate (the “statutory legacy”, the figure that has applied since 26 July 2023); and
- half of whatever is left above £322,000.
The children share the other half of the remainder equally between them.
The practical effect is striking. If the whole estate is worth £322,000 or less, the spouse takes everything, and the children inherit nothing. Consider an estate of £280,000, with a surviving husband and two children: the husband receives the entire £280,000, because it falls below the statutory legacy. The children receive nothing, even if that is not what the parent would have wanted.
What if there are children?
Where the estate is larger than £322,000, the children share half of the excess. So on a £522,000 estate with a surviving spouse and two children: the spouse takes £322,000 plus half of the remaining £200,000 (£100,000), totalling £422,000. The two children split the other £100,000, £50,000 each.
If a child is under 18, they cannot receive their share directly. It is held in trust until they turn 18 (or marry earlier). If there is no surviving spouse at all, the children inherit the whole estate equally.
The people who inherit nothing
Some of the hardest cases involve people who were central to the deceased’s life but have no legal claim under intestacy:
- Unmarried partners. A partner of twenty years inherits nothing automatically, regardless of whether you owned a home together or had children. The “common law marriage” is a myth, it has no legal standing in England and Wales.
- Step-children. Unless they were legally adopted, step-children inherit nothing under intestacy, even if you raised them as your own.
- Friends and carers. However close or devoted, they are not relatives, and intestacy recognises only relatives and legal spouses.
The only way to provide for any of these people is to make a will.
Blended families: the trap nobody expects
The most common, and most painful, intestacy scenario involves second marriages. A parent remarries, dies without updating their affairs, and the new spouse inherits first under the rules. Because most family estates fall below £322,000, the new spouse frequently inherits everything, and the deceased’s own children from a first relationship receive nothing.
This is not theft, and it is rarely anyone behaving badly, it is simply how intestacy works. A spouse who married the deceased even months before their death still sits at the top of the order. For adult children who expected to inherit from a parent, the result can feel deeply unfair, but it is usually the correct legal outcome.
There is one narrow route. Certain people, including children of any age, can apply to court for “reasonable financial provision” under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. A claim does not rewrite the intestacy rules; it asks a court to carve out provision from the estate. These claims are costly, uncertain, time-limited, and stressful, which is exactly why they are a last resort rather than a plan.
Can the intestacy rules be challenged?
Only in limited ways. The rules themselves are fixed, but a spouse, former spouse, cohabiting partner of at least two years, child, or financial dependant left without reasonable provision can bring an Inheritance Act 1975 claim, as above. Our Inheritance Act 1975 checker gives a quick sense of whether you might be eligible to claim. There are strict deadlines, usually six months from the grant of representation, so anyone considering this should take advice quickly. For most families, the better answer is to avoid intestacy altogether.
How to make sure this doesn’t happen to your family
Intestacy is entirely avoidable. A valid will lets you decide who inherits, provide for an unmarried partner or step-children, protect children from a previous relationship, and spare your family the cost and conflict that intestacy so often causes. If someone has already died without a will, our probate team can guide you through what the rules mean for your family and how the estate must be administered.
You can read more about whether probate is needed when there is no will, learn about making a will, or explore our wider wills, trusts and estates services. For advice on your situation, request a callback and we will come back to you. The GOV.UK intestacy tool also sets out the basic order of inheritance.
A note on figures: the fees and figures in this article are correct as at the date of publication shown on this article. Court fees, taxes and other charges change from time to time, so please check the current figures with the relevant official source before relying on them.
Frequently asked questions
Does my husband or wife automatically inherit everything if I die without a will?
Not necessarily. If you have children, your spouse receives your possessions, the first u00a3322,000, and half of the rest. The children share the other half. Only if the estate is u00a3322,000 or less does the spouse take everything.
Do stepchildren inherit under the intestacy rules?
No. Unless they were legally adopted, stepchildren inherit nothing under intestacy, even if you raised them. The only way to provide for them is to make a will.
What happens to a child's inheritance if they are under 18?
It is held in trust until they turn 18, or marry earlier. They cannot receive their share directly before then.
What happens if someone dies with no living relatives at all?
The estate passes to the Crown, known as bona vacantia. This is one reason even people with few close relatives benefit from making a will.