Died without a will: who actually inherits?

No will? Then in a sense you already have one — Parliament wrote it for you. It is called the intestacy rules, it applies automatically, and you do not get a say in a word of it. Here is what it actually says.

The strict queue

The rules work as a fixed order of priority:

• Spouse or civil partner, with children: spouse takes the personal possessions, the statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of everything above it; the children share the other half at 18.
• Spouse, no children: the spouse takes everything.
• No spouse: children equally; if none, parents; then full siblings; then half-siblings; then grandparents; then aunts and uncles — the law marches down the family tree whether you liked those people or not.
• No qualifying relatives at all: the estate passes to the Crown.

The list of people who get nothing

Just as important is who appears nowhere in that queue, no matter the circumstances:

• Your unmarried partner — however long you have been together.
• Your stepchildren — “children” means biological or adopted only.
• Sons- and daughters-in-law, best friends, carers, godchildren.
• Any charity or cause you cared about.

Children inherit at 18 — outright

Under intestacy, children take their shares at eighteen, with no strings, no staging, and no trusted adult holding discretion. An eighteen-year-old and a six-figure lump sum is a combination most parents would not design on purpose — yet it is the default design.

The partial safety valve — and its cost

Certain people left out — a cohabiting partner of two years or more, someone financially dependent on the deceased — can apply to the court for provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. But notice what that sentence involves: litigation. Cost, delay, uncertainty, and a grieving family set against itself. A safety valve is not a plan.

A will replaces the entire lottery with your actual choices — who benefits, at what age, on what terms, with guardians named and the people who matter actually included. It is the difference between the law's family tree and your real one.