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Making a will - why it's important

There are lots of good financial reasons for making a will:

• Why it is important to make a will - Citizens Advice Bureau Opens new window

Who inherits if you don't have a will?

If you don't have a will there are rules for deciding who inherits your assets, depending on your personal circumstances. The following rules are for deaths on or after 1 February 2024 in England and Wales, the law differs if you die intestate (without a will) in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The rates that applied before that date are shown in brackets.

If you're married or in a civil partnership and there are no children

The husband, wife or civil partner won't automatically get everything although they will receive:

• personal items, such as household articles and cars, but nothing used for business purposes
• £450,000 (£200,000) free of tax - or the whole estate if it was less than £450,000 (£200,000)
• half of the rest of the estate

The other half of the rest of the estate will be shared by the following:

• surviving parents
• if there are no surviving parents, any brothers and sisters (who shared the same two parents as the deceased) will get a share (or their children if they died while the deceased was still alive)
• if the deceased has none of the above, the husband, wife or registered civil partner will get everything
  

If you're married or in a civil partnership and there were children

Your husband, wife or civil partner won't automatically get everything, although they will receive:

The rest of the estate will be shared by the children.

If you are partners but aren't married or in a civil partnership

If you aren't married or registered civil partners, you won't automatically get a share of your partner's estate if they die without making a will.

If they haven't provided for you in some other way, your only option is to make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. See the section below 'If you feel you've not received reasonable financial provision'.

If there is no surviving spouse/civil partner

The estate is distributed as follows:

It'll take longer to sort out your affairs if you don't have a will. This could mean extra distress for your relatives and dependants until they can draw money from your estate.

• Check who inherits if there's no will - interactive tool Opens new window

• Scottish intestacy laws - learn more Opens new window

• More about intestacy law in Northern Ireland Opens new window

If you feel you've not received reasonable financial provision

If you feel that you have not received reasonable financial provision from the estate, you may be able to make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 - applicable in England and Wales. To make a claim you must have a particular type of relationship with the deceased, such as child, spouse, civil partner, dependant or cohabitee.

Bear in mind that if you were living with the deceased as a partner but weren't married or in a civil partnership, you'll need to show that you've been 'maintained either wholly or partly by the deceased' - this can be difficult to prove if you've both contributed to your life together.

You need to make a claim within six months of the date of the Grant of Letters of Administration.

This is quite a complicated area and a claim may not succeed. It's advisable to ask a solicitor's advice. They would charge for this service.

Inheritance Tax and your will

If you leave everything to your husband, wife or civil partner

In this case there usually won't be any Inheritance Tax to pay because a husband, wife or civil partner counts as an 'exempt beneficiary'. But bear in mind that their estate will be worth more when they die, so more Inheritance Tax may have to be paid then.

However, if you are domiciled (have your permanent home) in the UK when you die but your spouse or civil partner isn't you can only leave them £55,000 tax-free.

• Download 'Residence, domicile and the remittance basis' (PDF, 739K) Opens new window

• Help with PDF files

Other beneficiaries

You can leave up to £325,000 tax-free to anyone in your will, not just your spouse or civil partner (tax year 2012-13). So you could, for example, give some of your estate to someone else or a family trust. On any amount you leave above this, Inheritance Tax is payable at a rate of either:

• 40 per cent
• 36 per cent, if 10 per cent or more of the net estate is left to charity
  

• Reducing your Inheritance Tax bill by giving to charity

Charities

Inheritance Tax isn't payable on any money or assets you leave to a 'qualifying' charity - these transfers are exempt. Find out more about qualifying charities by following the link below.

• Tax efficient giving to charity: the basics

Wills, trusts and financial planning

As well as making a will, you can use a family trust to pass on your assets in the way you want to. You can provide in your will for specific assets to pass into a trust or for a trust to start once the estate is finalised. You can also use a trust to look after assets you want to pass on to beneficiaries who can't immediately manage their own affairs (either because of their age or a disability).

You can use different types of family trust depending on what you want to do and the circumstances. Setting up a trust is complicated and you'll need to get specialist advice, so it's normally only worthwhile if you've got a large estate. If you expect the trust to be liable to tax on income or gains you should inform HMRC Trusts as soon as the trust is set up. For most types of trust, there will be an immediate Inheritance Tax charge if the transfer takes you above the Inheritance Tax threshold. There will also be Inheritance Tax charges when assets leave the trust. Read our related articles to find out more.

• Contact HMRC Trusts & Estates

Further information on wills

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) offers advice on how to make a will. You can read their easy to follow guide which includes:

• CAB guide on Wills Opens new window

• Contact your nearest CAB Opens new window

More useful links

• Making a will (rights and responsibilities section)

• Search for a solicitor specialising in wills Opens new window

• Download the Age UK 'Making a will' factsheet (PDF document, 68K) Opens new window

• Help with PDF files

• Find out more about civil partnerships Opens new window

Useful contacts

• Money, tax and benefits contacts