Everyone should have a will, and an up-to-date one at that. Yet 51% of UK adults don’t according to a recent Canada Life study.
The top 4 reasons people give for this are:
- They don’t think they have enough wealth
- They think there’s plenty of time in the future to make one
- They don’t want to think about death
- They don’t want to pay for one.
If you don’t have a will, and you die, then you die intestate. There are no instructions to follow, so the person’s assets are distributed according to intestacy rules, i.e. rules made by the government.
To be fair, the rules are pretty straightforward and rational: on your death, assets go to a spouse or civil partner, and children. If there are none of these, assets will go to living parents, full-blood siblings, half-blood siblings, grandparents, and on and on through the family tree. If there really are no relatives, the assets are known as Bona Vacantia and are passed to the government or King Charles.
So…
if you are in the position whereby you are separated… but not divorced… and you die… and you don’t have a will… your assets will largely go to your spouse or civil partner, following intestacy rules. If you have no children, all your assets will pass to your ex.
If you have children, they will receive something, but not the majority. Your ex will receive all your personal possessions AND property AND the first £322K of your estate AND half of the remaining estate. Your children will receive half of the estate after the first £322,000 has been deducted and it will be shared equally between them.
If you are separated from your husband or wife, it seems unlikely that you want them to have most, if not all of your assets. And you may want step-children to inherit, or charities, friends or other relatives that are not listed within the intestacy rules.
Take control of who gets what after your death. A separation can be a really stressful time and you might not fully understand what your future assets might look like. But dying intestate, whilst separated is something you should try to avoid.
For further information, please contact Melissa Butler on 01756 692878 or email melissa.butler@awbclaw.co.uk.
Further reading:
Intestacy – the question of inheritance
Do you know where your pensions are?
A will written on the back of two food boxes. Is it valid?
10 March 2025