You may think you only need to write up a Will if you own a prop­er­ty or pos­ses­sions you con­sid­er to be of val­ue, but your Will cov­ers much more than what hap­pens to your belong­ings in the event of your death. A Will can cov­er every­thing from child care arrange­ments and pet care, all the way up to the han­dling of your bank account/​s and dig­i­tal assets (such as your social media accounts). We here at Jack­son Bar­rett and Gass rec­om­mend that you make a Will no mat­ter what stage of life that you are at, but what hap­pens if you don’t make a Will? 

You may think you only need to write up a Will if you own a prop­er­ty or pos­ses­sions you con­sid­er to be of val­ue, but your Will cov­ers much more than what hap­pens to your belong­ings in the event of your death. A Will can cov­er every­thing from child care arrange­ments and pet care, all the way up to the han­dling of your bank account/​s and dig­i­tal assets (such as your social media accounts). We here at Jack­son Bar­rett and Gass rec­om­mend that you make a Will no mat­ter what stage of life that you are at, but what hap­pens if you don’t make a Will? 

When a per­son dies with­out leav­ing a valid Will their Estate must be shared out accord­ing to a set of rules known as the Rules of Intes­ta­cy. Only mar­ried or civ­il part­ners, and a few oth­er blood rel­a­tives, can inher­it under the Rules of Intes­ta­cy. The Rules of Intes­ta­cy are as follows…

If you are not mar­ried or in a civ­il part­ner­ship but you DO have chil­dren, grand­chil­dren, or great grand­chil­dren:

Your chil­dren will inher­it the entire estate in equal amounts. Adopt­ed chil­dren (includ­ing step-chil­dren who have been adopt­ed by step-par­ents) also have the right to inher­it under the Rules of Intes­ta­cy. Chil­dren who inher­it under the Rules of Intes­ta­cy will only receive the inher­it­ed Estate when they turn 18 unless they mar­ry or enter into a civ­il part­ner­ship (which can only hap­pen with the per­mis­sion of a guardian) under this age. 

If you are mar­ried or in a civ­il part­ner­ship and your Estate is worth less than £250,000, regard­less of whether or not you have children:

Your spouse/​civil part­ner will inher­it the entire Estate, plus inter­est, and per­son­al goods from the date of your death; regard­less of whether or not you have liv­ing children. 

If you are mar­ried or in a civ­il part­ner­ship and your Estate is worth more than £250,000 but you have NO chil­dren, grand­chil­dren, or great grandchildren:

Again, your spouse/​civil part­ner will inher­it the entire Estate, plus inter­est, and per­son­al goods from the date of your death.

If you are mar­ried or in a civ­il part­ner­ship, your Estate is worth more than £250,000, and you DO have chil­dren, grand­chil­dren, or great grandchildren:

Your part­ner will inher­it the first £250,000 plus half of the remain­ing Estate, along with all of your per­son­al prop­er­ty. The chil­dren will then inher­it, in equal shares, the remain­ing half of the val­ue of the estate.

You are not mar­ried (or in a civ­il part­ner­ship) and have NO children:

Your sur­viv­ing rel­a­tives will inher­it in the fol­low­ing order:

1. Par­ents

2. Broth­ers or sis­ters, nieces and nephews 

3. Half-broth­er or sis­ters, or their children 

4. Grand­par­ents

5. Uncles or aunts, or their children 

6. If you have no sur­viv­ing rel­a­tives then every­thing will go to the Crown (con­tin­ued below) 

If you have no sur­viv­ing relatives:

If there are no sur­viv­ing rel­a­tives who can inher­it under the Rules of Intes­ta­cy, the Estate pass­es to the Crown. This is known as Bona Vacan­tia. The Trea­sury Solic­i­tor is then respon­si­ble for deal­ing with the Estate.

Who can­not inher­it under the Rules of Intestacy: 

· Unmar­ried part­ners (some­times wrong­ly called ​‘com­mon-law’ partners) 

· Stepchil­dren (unless for­mal­ly adopted) 

· Same-sex part­ners not in a civ­il partnership 

· Rela­tions by mar­riage (i.e. brother/​sister in-law) 

· Close friends 

· Car­ers

Why Make a Will?

A Will makes it much eas­i­er for your fam­i­ly to accept who inher­its what after you die, as this will be in line with your wish­es. With­out a Will the process of divid­ing your Estate can be much more time con­sum­ing and stress­ful, and it could cause con­flicts between fam­i­ly mem­bers. In addi­tion, if you have friends or extend­ed fam­i­ly that you wish to leave any of your Estate to then this will need to be out­lined in your Will.

Even if your wish­es for your Estate just hap­pen to fol­low the Rules of Intes­ta­cy, a Will may help reduce the amount of Inher­i­tance Tax that might be payable on the val­ue of the prop­er­ty and mon­ey you leave behind which could help your part­ner, chil­dren, or sur­viv­ing rel­a­tives avoid any finan­cial trou­bles this could incur.

In the event of your pass­ing, your Per­son­al Rep­re­sen­ta­tives are the peo­ple who will be in charge of car­ry­ing out the instructions/​wishes, plan­ning your funer­al, and mak­ing deci­sions about your estate. If you make a will you can appoint any­body to car­ry out the role of Per­son­al Rep­re­sen­ta­tive. With­out a will this role is offered to all whom inher­it your estate and this can be impractical.

If you’re think­ing about writ­ing your Will and want to make sure it is com­plete­ly valid and indis­putable in the eyes of the law, then we rec­om­mend using a Solic­i­tor ser­vice in order to do this. Con­tact us for will writ­ing ser­vices, infor­ma­tion, and assistance.