Make a will or risk consequences

If you do not make a will, on your death your property and assets will be dealt with under the laws of intestacy. It is estimated that about seven out of ten people in England and Wales die without making a will.

The order of distribution
It is often wrongly assumed that if you do not make a will, your property and assets will automatically pass to your surviving spouse (i.e. your husband or wife) or civil partner but this is not necessarily the case. Your property and assets (also known as your estate) will be distributed according to the table below.

You will note from the table that your estate can only pass to your relatives. The only way you can define to whom it passes, and in what proportions it is given, is through a will.

The matrimonial home
If you own your matrimonial home with your spouse/civil partner and hold it as joint tenants at the time of your death, your spouse/civil partner will automatically become the sole owner of the property. Therefore, property held as joint tenants will pass outside the rules of intestacy. Details of how you own your property can be obtained from the Land Registry.

If your matrimonial home is held by you and your spouse/civil partner as tenants in common at the time of death, your spouse/civil partner will only be entitled to their share of the property (usually 50%). Your share will form part of the estate. Therefore, depending on the value of the property, there is a risk that your spouse/civil partner may not be able to continue to live in the property after your death.

If the matrimonial home is held by you alone at the time of death, the entire property will form part of the estate and will be distributed according to the rules. Again, there is no guarantee that your spouse/civil partner will be able to continue to live in the property, or indeed that they will even inherit a share of the property.

Beneficiaries
If surviving relatives are not easily identifiable, it may be necessary to employ the services of a professional tracing company. The expense for this will be borne by the estate and can cost many thousands of pounds. The amount of money available for distribution to the beneficiaries will be reduced and the money that is left may be distributed to distant relatives not known to you.

Inheritance Tax
A will may substantially reduce the level of Inheritance Tax that is paid from your estate.

Intestacy may arise in other ways. The most common of these are where the will fails to deal with all the estate; or the will was not validly made (e.g. you lacked mental capacity when you made it); or the will has been inadvertently revoked by a subsequent event (e.g. on marriage, a will is automatically revoked, unless it specifically contains provisions to the contrary).
It is therefore important that you review your will regularly (at least every five years) and if you have any concerns about your will, you should consult a solicitor.

For further information see the full article on our website at www.morrlaw.com or contact David Kingham on 01737 854529, or email david.kingham@morrlaw.com

Surviving relatives	Where surviving spouse or civil partner	Where no surviving spouse or civil partner
Children or remoter descendants	Spouse/civil partner will take: 1. your personal possessions 2. £125,000 cash or equivalent 3. a right to use and enjoy half of the remaining estate for their lifetime. On their death, this half share in the estate will pass to your children equally The children will take: 1. the remaining half of the estate equally If a child dies before you, the share that he/she would have taken will pass to any children that he/she may have	All your estate will pass to your children equally, with any share of a child who has died before you passing to his/her children equally
Parent(s), and you have no children or remoter descendants	Spouse/civil partner will take: 1. your personal possessions 2. £200,000 cash or equivalent 3. half of the remainder of the estate entirely Parent(s) will take: 1. the remaining half of the estate entirely (equally if both of them survive you)	All your estate will pass to your parents, equally if both of them survive you
Full brothers and sisters (including their children)	Spouse/civil partner will take: 1. your personal possessions 2. £200,000 cash or equivalent 3. half of the remainder of the estate entirely Brothers and sisters will take: 1. the other half of the remainder of the estate entirely and equally If a brother or sister dies before you, the share that would have passed to that individual will go to their children instead (i.e. to your niece or nephew)	All to your brothers and sisters in equal shares (or to the children of the brother or sister if they have died before you)
Half brothers and sisters (including their children)	All to your surviving spouse/civil partner	All to your half brothers and sisters in equal shares (or to their children as above)
Grandparents	All to your surviving spouse/civil partner	All to your grandparents (equally if both survive you)
Full uncles or aunts (i.e. the brothers and sisters of a parent, including their children)	All to your surviving spouse/civil partner	All to your uncles and aunts equally (or to their children as above)
Half uncles and aunts (i.e. the half-brothers and half-sisters of a parent, including their children)	All to your surviving spouse/civil partner	All to your half uncles and aunts equally (or to their children as above)
No surviving relatives	All to your surviving spouse/civil partner	All to the Crown (i.e. to the Government)