What happens to my assets if I die without a will?

Most people underestimate the importance of a will and do not take into consideration what happens to their assets if they do not have a will in place.

When a person dies without a will, their assets are distributed in accordance with the intestacy rules which dictate exactly who receives what assets from the estate. These rules rarely ensure that assets are distributed in accordance with that person’s wishes and instead may pass to people they may not have included as beneficiaries in their will had they prepared one.

For example, if a couple is married and has children, the first £322,000 of the person’s estate passes to the surviving spouse. The remainder is divided into two equal shares; one share is given to the surviving spouse, and the second share is divided equally between the children of the person who has passed away. This can mean that the surviving spouse is not provided with the financial support they may need following their spouse’s death.

An issue also arises where a couple are unmarried and have not made wills. The law is somewhat outdated and only allows a surviving partner to receive assets from their partner’s estate if they are married or in a civil partnership. The lack of a will does not provide any protection for the surviving person as this person does not have any automatic right to inherit on their partner’s death. This could even mean that these assets pass instead to a person’s parents or siblings, in particular, where the person who has died was not married and did not have any children. This is, of course, unlikely to be what that person would have wanted as they would likely have wanted to ensure that their surviving partner was looked after.

There may also be people that the deceased person wanted to give money or other assets to, but this has not happened due to the lack of a will.

The main benefit of a will is to set out what you would wish to happen to your assets on your death, giving you full control. Making a will also attempts to mitigate the risk of any disagreements between your family members as it is clear what you wanted to happen on your death.

Another advantage to making a will is that your estate can be distributed in the most inheritance tax effective way. If you do not make a will and the intestacy rules come into play, then it is possible that these rules will not distribute your assets in a way that would mitigate any inheritance tax.

As you will see, it is extremely important to make a will, even if the details and wishes within the will are simple. Making a will is generally a straightforward and quick process, which our team can advise you on.