What are the consequences of not leaving a Will?
If you do not have a will when you die, your money, property and possessions will be shared out according to the law instead of your wishes. This can mean they pass to someone you had not intended – or that someone you want to pass things on to ends up with nothing.
It doesn’t matter what your relationship with those people was like when you were alive. Only by leaving a will that says clearly who should get your property and money when you die, can you decide who your things will be passed onto, and limit any unnecessary distress at an already difficult time for your family or friends.
What is ‘intestacy’?
Dying without a valid will is called intestacy (e.g. “dying intestate”).
Intestacy can have significant effect:
If you are not married and not in a civil partnership, your partner is not legally entitled to anything when you die.
If you’re married, your husband or wife might inherit most, or all, of your estate and your children might not get anything (except in Scotland). This is true even if you are separated but not if you’re divorced.
If you have children or grandchildren, how much they are legally entitled to will depend on where you live in the UK – but if you make a will you can decide this yourself.
Any Inheritance Tax that your estate has to pay might be higher than it would be if you had made a will.
If you die with no living close relatives, your whole estate will belong to the Crown or to the government. This law is called bona vacantia.
Note: any assets that you own jointly with someone will not pass under the intestacy rules but will pass by survivorship to the surviving joint owner. But be careful, you need to own the asset as ‘joint tenants’ and not as ‘tenants in common’ for survivorship to apply.
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For initial advice about Estate Planning including Lasting Powers of Attorney, Wills, Trusts and Probate; call our team on 0203 488 7503, 01992 236 110 or contact us by email at welcome@walshwestcca.com or via our website www.walshwestcca.com and we will help you.
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