If you die having made a valid will you die testate, if you die without making a valid will you die intestate and the laws of intestacy apply to your estate (intestacy laws differ in Scotland). The laws are designed as best they can to give your estate to your closest relatives in order of priority. If no relatives can be found the crown takes your entire estate.

The laws of intestacy in a nut shell:

Dying with a spouse and no children

Your spouse inherits all your chattels (objects, clothes jewellery) and £200,000 pounds of your estate.
Of your remaining estate your spouse inherits half and the other half goes to your parents if they are still alive, if not it goes to your brothers and sisters.

Dying with a spouse and children

Your spouse inherits all your chattels (objects, clothes jewellery) and £125,000 pounds of your estate.
Of your remaining estate your spouse gets half, the other half falls to your children in equal shares. When your spouse dies her half then also falls to the children but whilst she lives it is invested to produce an income.

Dying without a spouse or children

In these cases the estate will be distributed amongst your surviving relatives in order of priority. For instance your parents will receive the lions share, followed by siblings, then half siblings, then your grandparents and parents siblings.

The problems with dying intestate

In an ideal world the intestate laws may be adequate but they do not account for the complexities of modern relationships. A long term boyfriend or girlfriend whom you love will not receive anything automatically if you die, a child may not yet be ready at 18 to inherit and manage a large sum of money responsibly and of course intestate laws do not take into account family disagreements.

Consider the case of Sandra White; she became estranged from her parents after becoming involved with her long term boyfriend Michael O’Hara 8 years ago. Michael helped raise her then one year old son Jack who, now nine years old, refers to him affectionately as dad having never met his real father. Sadly Sandra was recently killed in a car accident leaving no will. Her parents were granted custody of Jack by the courts as no legal guardian was appointed in a will. This resulted in Michael being completely cut out of Jack’s life due to the animosity between Michael and Sandra’s parents. This was probably not Sandra’s intention and could have been avoided if only Sandra had written a will detailing whom should become legal guardian of Jack should she die.

Grayam Thorpe, a bus driver from Leeds, died of a heart attack leaving his wife Alison and two children. By intestate laws Alison received Grayam’s total estate of £90,000, all of which was tied up in the family home. Alison soon remarried but divorced again three years later loosing half the house in the settlement. Had Grayam only made a will he could have protected his share of the estate for his own children but instead he lost it to a family he had never even met.