What Are the Intestacy Rules in the UK?

Every year, thousands of people in England and Wales die without leaving a valid will — a situation known as dying 'intestate'. When that happens, the state steps in with a rigid set of rules that determine who inherits your estate. These rules, set out in the Administration of Estates Act 1925 and updated over the decades, do not take into account your wishes, your relationships, or your circumstances. The result can be deeply unfair: a long-term partner may receive nothing, while distant relatives you barely knew inherit everything. Understanding the intestacy rules is one of the strongest arguments for writing a will.

Intestacy occurs when a person dies without leaving a valid will, or when a will exists but does not cover all of their assets. The person who has died is called the 'intestate person', and their estate — everything they owned — is distributed according to a fixed legal hierarchy rather than their personal wishes. The rules apply to England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own separate intestacy rules.

It is important to note that intestacy rules only apply to assets that form part of the 'estate'. Some assets pass outside the estate entirely and are unaffected: jointly owned property held as beneficial joint tenants passes automatically to the surviving owner, joint bank accounts pass to the surviving account holder, and assets held in trust or with a named beneficiary (such as life insurance policies or pension death benefits) are distributed according to their own rules.

The intestacy rules work through a strict order of priority. Only one category of person inherits — the rules move down the list until someone is found who survives the deceased. Here is the full hierarchy for England and Wales:

If you are married or in a civil partnership when you die, your spouse or civil partner is first in line to inherit. The amount they receive depends on whether you have children. If there are no children, your spouse inherits your entire estate. If you do have children, your spouse receives all your personal chattels (furniture, jewellery, vehicles, and similar personal possessions), the first £322,000 of your estate — known as the 'statutory legacy' — and half of anything above that threshold. Your children share the other half equally.

The statutory legacy was increased from £270,000 to £322,000 in July 2023 to reflect inflation. It is reviewed periodically, so the figure may change again in future. One important nuance: if you are separated from your spouse but not yet legally divorced, they still inherit under the intestacy rules. Only a final decree of divorce removes their entitlement. This is one of many reasons why updating your will — or making one — after a relationship breakdown is so important.

This is where the intestacy rules cause the most distress. Despite the widespread belief in 'common law marriage', no such legal status exists in England and Wales. An unmarried partner — however long-standing the relationship — has no automatic right to inherit anything under the intestacy rules. If you live with a partner but are not married or in a civil partnership, and you die without a will, your partner could be left with nothing while your estate passes to relatives you may barely know.

An unmarried partner can apply to the court under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for 'reasonable financial provision' from the estate, but this is a costly, stressful, and uncertain process — and it requires proving financial dependency. The only reliable way to protect an unmarried partner is to write a will.

All biological children of the deceased inherit equally, regardless of whether their parents were married. Adopted children are treated identically to biological children. However, stepchildren who have not been formally adopted by the deceased have no automatic right to inherit under the intestacy rules — even if they lived with the deceased for decades and were treated as their own child. Again, a will is the only way to include a stepchild.

Children under 18 cannot receive their inheritance directly. It is held in a statutory trust until they reach 18, managed by the administrators of the estate. If a child dies before the intestate person, their own children (the grandchildren of the deceased) may inherit their parent's share — but only if their parent predeceased the intestate person.

The way you own your home matters enormously under intestacy. If you own property as 'beneficial joint tenants', your share passes automatically to the surviving co-owner on death — it does not form part of your estate and is not subject to the intestacy rules. If you own as 'tenants in common', your share does form part of your estate and is distributed according to the intestacy rules (or your will, if you have one). Many couples who intend to leave their share to each other are actually tenants in common without realising it, which can cause significant problems.

If the intestacy hierarchy is exhausted and no living relatives can be found, the entire estate passes to the Crown — a process known as 'bona vacantia'. The Treasury Solicitor (or the Duchy of Lancaster or Cornwall in certain areas) takes ownership of the estate. The Crown has discretion to make grants from the estate to people who had a close connection with the deceased, such as a long-term partner or a carer, but there is no obligation to do so. Estates that pass to the Crown are published on the Government's bona vacantia list.

The people who inherit under the intestacy rules are not obliged to keep their inheritance. If all beneficiaries who are over 18 agree, they can redirect the estate differently using a 'deed of family arrangement' (also called a deed of variation). This must be done within two years of the date of death. A deed of variation can be used to benefit people who would not otherwise inherit — such as an unmarried partner or a stepchild — or to reduce an inheritance tax liability by redirecting assets to charity or to the next generation.

The rules described in this article apply to England and Wales only. Scotland has its own intestacy rules under the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964, which includes 'prior rights' and 'legal rights' that give a surviving spouse and children stronger protections. Northern Ireland has similar but distinct rules under the Administration of Estates Act (Northern Ireland) 1955. If you have assets in more than one jurisdiction, specialist legal advice is essential.

The intestacy rules were designed as a safety net, not as a comprehensive estate plan. They cannot reflect your personal wishes, protect an unmarried partner, provide for stepchildren, minimise inheritance tax, appoint a guardian for your children, or leave anything to charity. They are also slow — administering an intestate estate typically takes longer than probate on a well-prepared estate, because administrators must first establish who the beneficiaries are before they can distribute anything.

Writing a will is the single most important step you can take to protect the people you love. It costs relatively little, takes a few hours, and gives you complete control over what happens to everything you have worked for. Storing your will — and all the supporting documents your executor will need — in a secure, organised place means your wishes can be carried out quickly and without dispute.