What to do if someone dies without a Will
If someone dies without making a valid Will, they will be intestate. Some people think that their wishes will be applied even though they have no Will, but the intestacy laws and rules are complex and rarely lead to that outcome.
Intestacy laws – How our solicitors can help
At Nelsons, our team of Wills and Probate experts in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham can help draft a Will to prevent you from dying intestate and can help if a loved one has died without leaving a Will.
If a loved one dies intestate, we can help establish what assets they had and their value, and then ascertain who is entitled to act as an administrator and then receive the assets as a beneficiary. This a complex process, requiring specialist advice from an experienced team of lawyers such as ours.
The team here at Nelsons:
- Draft over 1,000 Wills for people of all ages every year;
- Deal with the administration of many high-value estates and Inheritance Tax issues; and
- Advise and assist executors appointed to administer the estate of a deceased friend or relative.
Testimonials…
Our team is also recommended by the independently-researched publication, The Legal 500, as being one of the top teams of experts in the country.
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What happens if you die intestate?
Our advice is always to make a Will to avoid costs, complications and distress to your next of kin after your death. If you die intestate:
- Your property will be inherited according to intestacy laws; and
- Instead of going to your chosen beneficiaries, it will go to other next of kin in a particular order.
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What are the intestacy rules in the UK?
If you die without a Will, leaving a spouse/civil partner but no children or remoter descendants (e.g. grandchildren) surviving you, all your estate will be inherited by your spouse/civil partner.
If you leave a spouse/civil partner and also children or remoter descendants (e.g. grandchildren) surviving you, your estate will be inherited as follows:
- Your personal effects and a legacy of £270,000 to your spouse/civil partner; and
- The rest of your estate would pass 50% to your spouse/civil partner and 50% to your children equally.
- If any of your children were to die before you, what would have been his or her share of your estate would be inherited by his or her own children.
If you don’t leave a spouse/civil partner surviving you, all your estate will be inherited by:
- Your children or their descendants, if any of them have died before you, but if none then
- Your parents, but if none then
- Your full brothers and sisters or their descendants, if any of them have died before you, but if none then
- Your half brothers and sisters or their descendants, if any of them have died before you, but if none then
- Your grandparents, but if none then
- Your full uncles and aunts or their descendants, if any of them have died before you, but if none then
- Your half-uncles and aunts or their descendants, if any of them have died before you, but if none then
- The Crown.