Dying Without a Will in the UK
Who actually inherits when there is no will: the intestacy rules for England and Wales, who is left out, and how Scotland differs.
When someone dies in the UK without a valid will, the law decides who inherits, not the person who died. This is called dying intestate, and a fixed legal order called the rules of intestacy takes over. The results often surprise families, because the law does not care about your wishes, your verbal promises, or who you actually loved and lived with. It cares about marriage, civil partnership, and bloodline.
This page is general information, not legal advice. The rules below apply to England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own separate systems, and Scotland in particular works very differently. For your own situation, consult a solicitor.
How common is it to die without a will?
More people than you might expect. According to a 2024 survey of UK adults commissioned by Canada Life, around half of UK adults do not have a will and are not in the process of writing one. Many assume their estate will simply pass to their partner or that they do not own enough to bother. Both assumptions can be wrong, sometimes painfully so.
When no will exists and no entitled relatives can be found, an estate can ultimately pass to the Crown. In England and Wales these ownerless estates are dealt with by the Government Legal Department through a function known as bona vacantia, which is Latin for vacant goods. The government publishes a public list of unclaimed estates, and genealogists and heir-hunting firms regularly trace distant relatives precisely because so much value sits unclaimed. The Crown is the last resort, but it is a real one.
The intestacy rules: the order of inheritance
Under the Administration of Estates Act 1925, as amended by the Inheritance and Trustees' Powers Act 2014, there is a strict pecking order. The law works down this list and stops at the first category that has a living person in it.
A spouse or civil partner and children
This is the scenario most people get wrong. If you are married or in a civil partnership and you have children, your spouse or civil partner does not automatically inherit everything. Instead they receive:
All of your personal chattels (personal possessions such as furniture, cars and jewellery, but not money or business assets).
A statutory legacy, a fixed cash sum off the top of the estate.
Half of whatever is left after that (the residue), held outright.
The other half of the residue is shared equally between your children. If a child has already died, their share passes down to their own children.
The statutory legacy is set by the government and reviewed periodically. For deaths on or after 26 July 2023 it is £322,000, increased from £270,000 by The Administration of Estates Act 1925 (Fixed Net Sum) Order 2023. If the whole estate is worth £322,000 or less, the surviving spouse or civil partner effectively takes everything and the children receive nothing under intestacy.
A spouse or civil partner and no children
If you are married or in a civil partnership and have no children (and no remoter direct descendants), your spouse or civil partner inherits the entire estate. The statutory legacy split does not apply here.
No spouse or civil partner
If there is no surviving spouse or civil partner, the estate passes to the first available group in this order:
Children (and their descendants if a child has died).
Parents.
Brothers and sisters who share both parents (and their descendants).
Half-brothers and half-sisters (and their descendants).
Grandparents.
Aunts and uncles of the whole blood (and their descendants).
Aunts and uncles of the half blood (and their descendants).
The Crown, as bona vacantia, if nobody above survives.
Each category must be exhausted before the next is considered. Cousins, for example, only inherit through the aunts and uncles line, and only if there is nobody closer.
Who gets nothing under intestacy
This is the most important section to read carefully, because the people left out are often the people closest to the deceased.
Unmarried partners. A partner you lived with for thirty years, who shared your home and raised your children, has no automatic right to anything under the intestacy rules. There is no such thing as a common-law spouse in English inheritance law. This is the single biggest and most damaging misconception. An unmarried partner's only route is a separate court claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which is uncertain, stressful and expensive.
Stepchildren. Children you raised but never legally adopted are not your children for intestacy. They inherit nothing automatically, no matter how close the bond.
Close friends, carers and charities. None can inherit under intestacy. If you wanted to leave something to a friend, a carer or a cause, only a will can do that.
Guidance from Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper makes the same point repeatedly: if you are not married or in a civil partnership, the only reliable way to provide for your partner is to make a will.
Assets that pass outside the intestacy rules
Not everything you own is governed by intestacy. Some assets pass automatically, regardless of whether you left a will:
Property owned as joint tenants. If you own a home as beneficial joint tenants, your share passes automatically to the other owner by survivorship, outside the estate. This is different from owning as tenants in common, where your share does form part of your estate.
Pensions with a nomination. Many pension schemes are paid at the trustees' discretion, usually following the nomination form you completed. They often sit outside the estate entirely, which is why keeping nominations up to date matters.
Life insurance written in trust. A policy written in trust pays out to the named beneficiaries directly and does not form part of the estate.
Because these assets bypass intestacy, who you named years ago can matter more than the law itself. An out of date pension nomination can send money to an ex-partner.
Scotland is different
Scotland does not use the England and Wales rules at all. It works under the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964 and operates a system of prior rights and legal rights. On intestacy, a surviving spouse or civil partner can claim prior rights, which include rights to the family home up to a capped value, to furnishings up to a capped value, and to a cash sum. Separately, legal rights (historically known as legitim for children) entitle a spouse or civil partner and children to fixed shares of the deceased's moveable estate, and these legal rights apply even where there is a will. Because the structure and the capped figures differ from England and Wales, anyone with a connection to Scotland should take specific Scottish advice. Northern Ireland likewise has its own separate rules.
The simple lesson
Intestacy is a blunt, one-size-fits-all default. It can disinherit the partner you never married, overlook the stepchildren you raised, and in the worst case send your estate to the Crown. A valid, up to date will is the only way to make sure the right people inherit. Reviewing how you hold property, and keeping pension and life insurance nominations current, completes the picture.
Where Afterlife AI™ fits in
Afterlife AI™ does not write wills, store legal documents, or give legal advice, and nothing here is a substitute for a solicitor. What it does is preserve the part of you that paperwork never captures: your memories, your stories, the way you actually talk. With your consent while you are alive, you can build a Persona from your own memories and, for those who choose it, a consent-based voice of yourself, with that consent explicitly covering playback after you are gone and locked at Executor Lock™. Your free build never expires: 60 memories and 100 conversations to build your Persona, no card and no time limit. A will settles who gets what. Afterlife AI™ helps the people you leave behind still feel who you were.
Frequently asked questions
The FAQs below are general information about dying without a will in the UK and are not legal advice. For your own circumstances, consult a solicitor.