Intestacy

If you die without making a Will (dying 'intestate'), the law dictates how your estate will be passed on.

The law aims, in the first instance, to protect your immediate family - husband, wife and children. This might be exactly what you had wished, but even if it was, dying without a Will might not result in your possessions (your estate) being used as you had expected or would have wished.

And, it's worth bearing in mind that dependants who are not formally part of your family (for example an unmarried partner) have no automatic right under the intestacy laws.

The intestacy laws assume that all your possessions could be sold by your personal representative to convert your whole estate into cash, which would then be distributed. In practice, most of your assets are likely to be passed on intact according to certain rules.

Your husband or wife is entitled to all your personal chattels (i.e. personal possessions, such as clothes, furniture, your car etc.)

Worth pointing out is that a spouse only gets the first £200,000 unconditionally when there are no children and only the first £125,000 when there are children.

Unmarried couples get nothing from the other's estate unless they have a valid Civil Partnership.

Jointly owned property may go to the other owner. However, that is by no means a cast iron certainty and sometimes other dependants can make a claim.

The law of Intestacy is laid out in the Administration of Estates Act.

See also: Making a will

Last Updated: January 2008 © Moneyextra.com

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