Who inherits if you die without a will?

They are the statutory order that decides who inherits when someone dies without a valid will. A surviving spouse or civil partner comes first: with children, they receive the personal chattels, the first £322,000 and half of anything above that, while the children share the other half equally; without children, the spouse receives everything. If there is no spouse, the estate passes down a fixed list — children, then parents, then siblings, then wider family. Jointly owned assets usually pass to the surviving joint owner by survivorship, outside these rules.

No. Unmarried partners have no automatic right to inherit under the intestacy rules of England and Wales, however long you have lived together — 'common-law marriage' has no legal status. A surviving partner can sometimes apply to court for provision, but that route is slow, uncertain and stressful. A valid will is the only reliable way to make sure your partner inherits.

It is the fixed first sum a surviving spouse or civil partner receives when the person who died also left children. Set at £322,000 for deaths on or after 26 July 2023, it comes with the personal chattels and half of anything above it; the children share the remaining half equally, inheriting at 18.

No — not unless they were legally adopted. The rules recognise biological and adopted children only, which often surprises blended families. If you want stepchildren to inherit, you have to name them in a will.

The whole estate passes to the Crown as 'bona vacantia' (ownerless goods). The Government Legal Department administers these estates and entitled relatives can come forward to claim, but where no one qualifies the estate is kept by the Crown.

Make a valid will. It is the only way to choose who inherits, in what shares, and who administers your estate — including unmarried partners, stepchildren and charities, none of whom the rules provide for. Our team prepares wills as part of a wider estate plan, and an initial conversation is free with no obligation.

It arises when a valid will covers some assets but not the whole estate — for example, a will that gives away specific items or accounts but never deals with the rest. The will takes priority for everything it covers; whatever it does not deal with passes under the intestacy rules instead. Reviewing your will after major changes — a house move, a sale, a new relationship — is the simplest way to avoid one.

Usually not. Assets held as joint tenants — many couples' homes and joint bank accounts — pass automatically to the surviving co-owner by survivorship, outside both the intestacy rules and any will. The rules reach only assets in your sole name, plus any share held as 'tenants in common'. That is why how a home is owned can matter as much as what a will says.

English probate often does not reach assets abroad. A holiday home or overseas account is generally governed by the succession law of the country where it sits, and some countries apply 'forced heirship' rules that override English wills and the intestacy rules entirely. Cross-border estates need joined-up planning, often with advice in each country where assets are held.