Rules of Intestacy
2009

Intestacy is the situation that occurs when someone dies without leaving clear instructions about what to do with their estate which would include any money and properties.

In 2009, the estate of someone dying intestate would go mainly to his or her spouse. The most relevant aspect affecting the distribution of the estate was whether this person had children or not.

If there are no children, the spouse would receive up to 200,000 pounds and the personal belongings of the deceased. The remainder of the estate would go to the deceased’s parents or other blood relatives; however, the spouse had a life interest of half of the remaining estate. Therefore, the deceased’s parents or other blood siblings would not receive that half until the spouse dies.

If there are children alive, the spouse would receive the deceased’s personal belongings, up to 125,000 pounds, and a life interest in half of the remaining estate. The other half of the mentioned remaining estate would go to the deceased’s children. The children will also receive the other half when the surviving spouse dies.

In the case that there is more than one child, the children will share their part equally. If some of them are under 18, the estate will be kept in a trust until they reach that age. If any of them has died but had children, then their children will receive the share corresponding to their father, sharing it equally.

In both cases, if there is no will, a non-official partner does not have any right as an heir. Actually, in the case that there were never any blood siblings or spouse, and never any children and both parents and grandparents are deceased, the estate would go to the Crown.

In February 2009, the amounts stated in the law were outdated. Thus, the changes in the law were mainly in the statutory legacy. Just to clarify, statutory legacy refers to the amount that the spouse or civil partner receives when the deceased dies intestacy.

The new amounts were 250,000 pounds in the case that the deceased had children and 450,000 pounds in the case that the deceased had no children. This way, the spouse was better treated according to the updated value of estates.

In any case, both before 2009 and after 2009, it was recommended to make a will to avoid allowing the law to decide something you can decide yourself. By making a will, you can be sure that your estate goes to the people you want, and you can even organise it in a way that is more efficient regarding taxes.