Intestacy
If you die leaving no valid Will you are said to be Intestate and your estate must be dealt with by "Administrators" (as opposed to "Executors" appointed by a Will) who take out "Letters of Administration" (as opposed to "Probate" taken out by Executors) and its distribution must be in accordance with the law.
Who is entitled to be an Administrator is also governed by the law. The list starts with the surviving spouse or civil partner (I shall simply say spouse to cover both these), then children, then father and mother, then brothers and sisters (this list is much simplified and shortened) and goes on through many more steps including, near the end, creditors! So, if you don't leave a Will it is possible that somebody you owe money to could administer your estate and seize your assets to pay the debt.
The Administrators, after paying debts, Inheritance Tax and funeral expenses, must then distribute the net estate in accordance with the law. The following rules are again much simplified and shortened, and apply to deaths after 1 February 2009.
The first situation is if you die leaving only a spouse, and no child(ren).
He or she receives everything,
The second situation is if you die leaving a spouse and child(ren).
If you leave less than £250,000 net, your spouse inherits it all and the child(ren) receive(s) nothing.
If you leave more than £250,000 net, your spouse receives £250,000 plus your personal possessions. Half the rest goes to your child(ren) immediately and your spouse has a life interest in the other half which goes to the child(ren) when your spouse dies.
The third situation is if you die leaving a spouse but no child(ren), but you are survived by parents or brothers of sisters of the whole blood.
If you leave less than £450,000 net, your spouse inherits it all.
If you leave more than £450,000 net, your spouse receives £450,000 plus your personal possessions plus half the rest (absolutely, not a life interest). The other half goes to your parent(s), in equal shares if more than one, and if no parent survives you, then that half of your estate is shared between your brothers and sisters of the whole blood.
The fourth situation is if you die leaving children, but no spouse.
Your child(ren) receive(s) everything, in equal shares if more than one.
The fifth situation is if you die leaving parent(s), but no spouse or children.
Your parent(s) inherit, in equal shares if more than one.
The list goes on to consider brothers and sister of the half blood, grandparents and uncles and aunts of both the whole and half blood. If there is nobody in any of the above categories, your estate goes to the Crown (ie., the government). A creditor can apply to administer your estate if the Crown allows.
So you see if you die intestate, your estate is arbitrarily divided in a way you may not have wished, and you lose the opportunity of at least leaving it to charity, if you have no relatives in any of the above categories, to avoid it going to the government. So make a Will and say who you would like to wind up your estate and who you want to inherit it.
