Pillar Guide · Updated July 2026
UK Intestacy Rules: What Happens Without a Will in 2026/27
More than half of UK adults do not have a valid will, meaning their estate would be distributed according to a rigid statutory formula rather than their actual wishes. This pillar guide explains how the intestacy rules work in England and Wales, the statutory legacy that protects a surviving spouse or civil partner, the strict order of priority for children and other relatives, why unmarried cohabiting partners and stepchildren have no automatic entitlement at all, how Scotland and Northern Ireland differ, and how an estate without a will is administered through letters of administration.
What Is Intestacy
Dying intestate means dying without a valid will — either none was ever made, or an existing will turns out to be invalid, for example because it was not properly witnessed or was automatically revoked by a later marriage (marriage cancels most earlier wills in England and Wales unless the will was expressly made in contemplation of that specific marriage). When intestacy applies, the estate is distributed strictly according to a fixed statutory formula, which can produce outcomes very different from what the deceased would actually have chosen.
Spouse and Civil Partner Rights
In England and Wales, if the deceased leaves a spouse or civil partner and children, the spouse or civil partner receives all personal possessions, a statutory legacy of the first £322,000 of the estate, and half of anything remaining above that threshold. The statutory legacy figure is reviewed periodically by statutory instrument, so always confirm the current amount before relying on it for planning purposes.
The children share the remaining half of the estate above the statutory legacy equally between them, usually held in trust until they reach 18. If the deceased leaves no children or other descendants, the surviving spouse or civil partner inherits the entire estate outright, regardless of its size.
When There Is No Spouse or Children
If there is no surviving spouse, civil partner or children, the intestacy rules apply a strict statutory order of priority: parents inherit next; if none survive, full siblings (or their children, if a sibling has predeceased); then half-siblings; then grandparents; then aunts and uncles (or their children); then half-aunts and half-uncles.
If no qualifying relative can be found anywhere in this hierarchy, the estate passes to the Crown as bona vacantia (“ownerless goods”), administered by the Crown’s Bona Vacantia Division — though the Crown retains limited discretion to make grants to dependants or others with a genuine moral claim even in these cases.
Cohabiting Partners Have No Rights
One of the most significant and widely misunderstood aspects of UK intestacy law: unmarried cohabiting partners have absolutely no automatic entitlement under the intestacy rules, regardless of how long the relationship lasted or whether the couple had children together. A surviving cohabiting partner may be able to bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 if they were financially maintained by the deceased or had lived together for at least two years immediately before death, but this requires a separate court application with no guarantee of success — it is never a substitute for making a will.
Stepchildren Are Excluded
Under intestacy, “children” means biological children and legally adopted children only. Stepchildren who were never formally adopted have no automatic entitlement whatsoever, even if raised as part of the family throughout their life. This is a frequent and distressing surprise for blended families, and is one of the strongest practical reasons for anyone with stepchildren they wish to provide for to make a will rather than rely on intestacy.
Scotland: A Different System
Scotland operates a distinct system of intestate succession under the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964 (as amended), featuring “prior rights” — a surviving spouse or civil partner’s right to the family home up to a value limit, furniture up to a value limit, and a cash sum — followed by “legal rights” for a spouse/civil partner and children (a fixed proportion of the remaining moveable estate) before any residue passes under the wider statutory order. The specific value limits differ from, and are reviewed separately to, the England and Wales figures.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has its own intestacy legislation, broadly similar in structure to England and Wales — a statutory legacy for a surviving spouse or civil partner, followed by a shared remainder with children — but with its own statutory legacy figure, set and reviewed separately. Always confirm the current Northern Ireland-specific threshold rather than assuming a single UK-wide figure applies.
Letters of Administration
Without a will there is no named executor, so the person entitled to administer the estate (typically the closest qualifying relative under the intestacy order, most often a surviving spouse or adult child) must apply to the Probate Registry for a Grant of Letters of Administration, rather than the Grant of Probate used when a valid will exists. The administrator then has broadly similar duties to an executor — collecting assets, settling debts and any Inheritance Tax due, and distributing the estate strictly according to the intestacy rules rather than any personal preference.
Inheritance Tax Still Applies
Inheritance Tax rules apply identically whether or not a valid will exists. The standard nil-rate band of £325,000, and where relevant the residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 for a main residence passing to direct descendants, apply in the normal way, and transfers to a surviving spouse or civil partner remain fully exempt under intestacy just as they would under a will — since the spousal exemption does not depend on a will being in place.
How to Avoid Intestacy
The only reliable way to avoid the intestacy rules is to make a valid, up-to-date will, properly signed and witnessed under the Wills Act 1837 (as amended). Review your will after major life events — marriage (which automatically revokes most earlier wills unless made in contemplation of that specific marriage), divorce, the birth of children, or beginning to cohabit with a new partner — since these events can otherwise leave an outdated will in place, or, in the absence of any will at all, leave a loved one such as a cohabiting partner or stepchild with no automatic legal protection whatsoever.