Intestacy Rules and how they work where the Deceased Leaves a Surviving Spouse or Civil Partner

When a person dies without leaving a Will, they are said to have died ‘Intestate.’  If they have assets when they die then their assets will be distributed under the Probate rules of Intestacy. The provisions on Intestacy are to be found in the Administration of Estates Act 1925.

The HM Revenue and Customs website provides a vast amount of information on inheritance issues and intestacy so for further information you should access their website. If you click here you will be able to view how the intestacy rules work.

When Probate is being carried out the Intestacy rules are complicated and distribution of the assets will depend on which, if any, members of the deceased’s family survive the deceased.  This article focuses on the entitlement of a spouse or civil partner on an intestacy. The entitlement of other members of the family is dealt with separately.

In each scenario below, the spouse or civil partner will take a statutory legacy. The amount of the legacy will depend on when the deceased died. At present the amount of the statutory legacy is £250,000.

Where the Deceased dies leaving a Spouse or Civil Partner, and:

1. the deceased has no ‘issue’  (children, grandchildren and remoter descendants), parents, siblings or issue of his siblings – 
the spouse or civil partner will inherit the whole estate

2. the deceased leaves ‘ issue’  (children, grandchildren and remoter descendants) –
the spouse or civil partner will take personal chattels, a statutory legacy plus  a share in the remainder of the Estate

3. the deceased leaves no issue but has parents, brother or sister and issue of the brother or sister –
the spouse or civil partner will take personal chattels, a statutory legacy and a half share of the remainder of the Estate

Dealing with estates where there is an Intestacy is complicated and requires a lot of work. It is therefore very important to make a Will as soon as possible setting out the distribution of all your assets clearly so as to avoid a full or partial intestacy.