What happens if you die without a will in the UK?
Around half of UK adults don't have a will. Most assume it won't cause problems, or that their family will sort it out. In practice, dying without a will hands control to a fixed set of legal rules — and those rules often produce outcomes nobody wanted.
The intestacy rules
When someone dies without a valid will in England or Wales, their estate is distributed according to the intestacy rules — a strict legal hierarchy that determines who inherits, in what order, and in what amounts. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own versions, but the principle is the same: the law decides, not you.
The rules prioritise married and civil-partnered spouses first, then children, then other relatives in a fixed order. They don't take relationships, circumstances, or your actual wishes into account.
If you're married with children
Your spouse inherits the first £322,000 of your estate outright, plus all your personal belongings. Anything above that threshold is split: half goes to your spouse, half is divided equally between your children. If your estate is under £322,000, your spouse inherits everything.
This sounds straightforward, but the threshold hasn't kept pace with property prices. In many parts of the UK, a family home alone puts the estate well above it — meaning children inherit a share of a property their surviving parent still lives in.
If you're not married
This is where the rules become most significant. An unmarried partner — even a long-term partner you've lived with for decades — inherits nothing under intestacy. Nothing at all. The entire estate goes to children if there are any, or otherwise up the family tree to parents, siblings, nieces and nephews.
An unmarried partner can apply to the court for reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, but this is a costly, stressful, and uncertain process. A will takes minutes to fix the problem in advance.
If you have no close relatives
If the intestacy rules find no eligible relatives — no spouse, no children, no parents, no siblings, no cousins — the estate passes to the Crown. This is called bona vacantia. Friends, charities, and anyone outside the legal hierarchy receive nothing, regardless of your relationship with them or your intentions.
Who deals with the estate?
Without a will, there's no executor. Instead, the next of kin must apply for Letters of Administration from the Probate Registry before they can deal with anything. This takes time, and it means the family must agree on who applies — which can itself cause conflict.
The process is the same as probate, but with an additional layer: no one has been formally appointed, and the family has to establish their own authority from scratch.
What a will actually changes
A will lets you choose who inherits, name an executor you trust, appoint guardians for children under 18, and express funeral wishes. It doesn't have to be elaborate. A simple, properly witnessed will is legally valid and entirely sufficient for most people's needs.
The main reason people don't have one isn't cost — basic wills are inexpensive — it's inertia. It's the thing that keeps getting pushed back because it feels like something to deal with later.
Beyond the will
A will covers who gets your assets. But it doesn't tell your family where those assets are, what accounts you hold, who your pension is with, or what your funeral wishes are. Even people with a will often leave their family searching for weeks.
When I'm Gone is a private, encrypted record where you can document everything alongside your will — accounts, policies, passwords, wishes, and anything else that matters. It's £12.95 once, and it means your family has everything in one place when they need it.