Explaining intestacy and the rules in England and Wales

What is intestacy?

Intestacy happens when a person dies without leaving a will. This means they have died ‘intestate’ as opposed to ‘testate’.

Intestacy rules also apply when a person has left a will but it doesn’t cover all of their estate, meaning some property, money or possessions are left without a beneficiary to receive them.

This can happen for a number of reasons, such as named beneficiaries dying, or the will not being updated to include recent assets.

What is the order of beneficiaries?

The current intestacy rules state that if there is a surviving spouse and no children, the spouse is entitled to the entire estate.

If there was a surviving spouse and children, the spouse is entitled to the ‘personal chattels’ which is movable property but not money, and a statutory legacy (a fixed net sum). The residuary estate, if any, is then divided equally between the spouse and children (50% for the spouse, 50% divided by however many children there are).

What is there is no spouse?

If there is no spouse, the children will inherit the estate. This includes legitimate, illegitimate and adopted children, but not stepchildren or foster children.

If there are no children, the parents of the deceased will inherit the estate, shared equally if both are still alive, or solely to the only surviving parent.

If no parents survive, siblings described of ‘the whole blood’ (meaning siblings who share the same parents) are entitled. If a sibling dies before the intestate, the sibling’s children will inherit.

If there are no ‘whole blood’ siblings, then ‘half-blood’ siblings (meaning siblings who share one parent) will inherit the estate. 

If there are no siblings at all, the grandparents will receive equal shares.

If there are no grandparents, then aunts and uncles of ‘whole blood’ or their issue will inherit the estate. 

If there are no aunts or uncles of ‘whole blood’, then aunts or uncles of ‘half blood’ or their issue will be entitled to an equal share.

If there are no family members at all, then the Crown will inherit, leaving the Treasury Solicitor to deal with the estate. These are known as ‘unclaimed estates’.

What if the children are under the age of 18?

Estates will be held in statutory trusts for beneficiaries under 18. When they turn 18, they will become entitled to their share. If a child dies before reaching the age of 18, their share will be redistributed between the other beneficiaries.