Intestacy Rules

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Where a person dies without leaving a will, the rules of succession of the person's place of habitual residence or of their domicile apply. In certain jurisdictions such as France, Switzerland and much of the Islamic world, entitlements arise whether or not there was a will. These are known as forced heirship rights and are not typically found in common-law jurisdictions, where the rules of succession without a will (intestate succession) play a back-up role where an individual has not (or has not fully) exercised his or her right to dispose of property in a will.

In England and Wales the rules of succession are the Intestacy Rules set out in the Administration of Estates Act and associated legislation.

The Act sets out the order for distribution of property in the estate of the deceased. For persons with a wealth below a certain threshold (GBP 275,000 in 2005), the whole of the estate will pass to the deceased's spouse or, from late 2005, their registered civil partner. Such transfers below the threshold are exempt from UK Inheritance Tax.

In larger estates, the spouse will not receive the entire estate where the deceased left other blood relatives and left no will. They will receive:

all property passing to them by survivorship (such as the deceased's share in the jointly owned family home);
all property passing to them under the terms of a trust (such as a life insurance policy);
a statutory legacy of a fixed sum (being a larger sum where the deceased left no children); and
a life interest in half of the remaining estate.

The children (or more distant relatives if there are no children) of the deceased will be entitled to half of the estate remaining immediately and the remaining half on the death of the surviving spouse.

Children

Where a person dies intestate leaving children but no spouse or civil partner, the chldren are entitled to his or her estate in equal shares. Where there are no children, the Intestacy Rules set out the order of entitlement of next of kin.

Illegitimate, legitimated and adopted children have equal rights under the Intestacy Rules with children of marriage.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} If a child dies before his or her parent, any children of that child will receive the parent's share of the deceased's estate (in equal shares if there are more than one such grandchild).

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