Who Can Inherit If There Is No Will?

Inheritance without a will

When there's no will, the intestacy rules determine exactly who can inherit — and who can't. The rules don't consider the quality of your relationships, how close you were to someone, or what you would have wanted. They follow a fixed legal formula based purely on family ties.

Who can inherit

The intestacy rules recognise a specific hierarchy of relatives. Your estate passes to the first group that applies:

Married spouse or civil partner

Your legally married spouse or civil partner is first in line. Whether they inherit everything depends on whether you also have children and the size of your estate.

With children, they receive personal possessions, £322,000, and half of the remainder. Without children, they receive everything.

Important: a spouse from whom you're separated (but not divorced) still inherits under the intestacy rules. Only a finalised divorce removes their entitlement.

Children

Biological and legally adopted children can inherit. Your children share equally. If any child has died before you, their share passes to their own children (your grandchildren).

Children inherit at age 18. Until then, their inheritance is held in a statutory trust.

Parents

If you have no spouse, civil partner, or children, your parents inherit your estate equally. If only one parent is alive, they receive the full estate.

Brothers and sisters

Full siblings come next, sharing equally. Half-siblings only inherit if there are no full siblings.

Extended family

The rules continue through grandparents, then aunts and uncles, following the same pattern of full blood relatives before half-blood.

The Crown

If no qualifying relatives can be found at all, the estate passes to the Crown as "bona vacantia."

Who cannot inherit

The intestacy rules have significant gaps:

Unmarried partners

This is the single most important gap. If you live with your partner but aren't married or in a civil partnership, they have no automatic right to inherit under the intestacy rules — even if you've been together for decades and have children together.

They may be able to make a claim under the Inheritance Act 1975, but this requires a court application and is never guaranteed. If you're in this situation, specialists like C-PAID offer free consultations on inheritance disputes.

Stepchildren

Children of your partner who haven't been legally adopted by you cannot inherit under the intestacy rules. Even if you raised them from infancy, the law doesn't recognise the relationship unless adoption has taken place.

Friends

No matter how close the friendship, friends have no entitlement under the intestacy rules.

Charities

If you wanted to leave money to a cause you care about, the intestacy rules won't do this for you. Only a will can direct gifts to charity.

Estranged relatives

Conversely, relatives you've had no contact with for years — or who you actively wouldn't want to inherit — may still be entitled under the rules. You cannot exclude relatives from the intestacy framework.

Common misunderstandings

"My partner is my next of kin, so they'll inherit." The concept of "next of kin" has no legal meaning in English inheritance law. An unmarried partner is not recognised under the intestacy rules.

"We have a cohabitation agreement." Cohabitation agreements can be useful, but they don't override the intestacy rules. Only a will can determine who inherits your estate.

"I've told my family what I want." Verbal wishes aren't legally binding. Without a written, signed, and witnessed will, the intestacy rules apply regardless of what you've told people.

The only way to choose

A will is the only legal document that lets you decide who inherits your estate. It's the only way to provide for an unmarried partner, include stepchildren, support friends, leave charitable gifts, or exclude relatives you're estranged from.

If your current situation means someone you care about would miss out under the intestacy rules, making a will is urgent — not just important.