A parent dies without having drawn up a will, without having made gifts, without having made any preparation. The question falls immediately on the family: who will inherit, and how much? UK law has provided a precise answer for this situation, called intestacy. It is based on a fixed hierarchy of relatives and rules that apply automatically, without any personal decision having been made during their lifetime.
Concretely, when nothing has been planned, the law decides the distribution of the estate on its own. This mechanism is called the intestacy rules. It classifies the relatives of the deceased into categories according to a fixed hierarchy, and distributes the inheritance according to defined rules, leaving no room for the wishes of the deceased since they were never expressed.
Who are the heirs in the absence of a will?
The simplest rule to remember: children always come before anyone else, except the surviving spouse who has a particular status. If the deceased had children, they inherit as a priority, in full ownership or shared with the spouse depending on the circumstances. If they had no children, the law passes to other relatives according to a precise order. In the UK, the rules differ between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
The order of inheritance in England and Wales
Under intestacy rules in England and Wales, the law follows a fixed hierarchy of relatives. Each class only inherits if no one exists in the classes above:
- Spouse or civil partner (only if still legally married or in a civil partnership; cohabiting partners have no automatic right)
- Children (including legally adopted children; step-children are not included unless formally adopted)
- Parents
- Full brothers and sisters (and the children of any who have died)
- Half-brothers and half-sisters (and their issue)
- Grandparents
- Uncles and aunts (first full, then half-blood)
- If none of the above exist, the estate passes to the Crown as bona vacantia (ownerless property)
There is no single UK-wide succession code. Intestacy is governed separately in England and Wales under the Administration of Estates Act 1925 and subsequent amendments, applied via the family courts and the Probate Service.
The special case of the surviving spouse
The spouse is always an heir under intestacy rules in England and Wales. However, cohabitees and unmarried partners have no legal right to inherit from an intestate estate unless they were formally married or in a registered civil partnership. Only marriage or civil partnership creates this automatic right.
What share does each heir receive according to the family situation?
This is the heart of the matter, and the proportions change significantly depending on whether there are children and whether the spouse is present.
Intestacy with children and spouse
When the deceased leaves children and a surviving spouse, the distribution depends on the family circumstances. If all children are common to both spouses, the spouse typically receives the first £322,000 of the estate (as of 2024), plus half of the remainder. The children inherit the other half of what remains after the spouse’s share. If there are children from a previous relationship, the spouse receives a smaller proportion and the children share more of the estate.
| Family situation | Spouse’s share | Children’s share |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse + children (all common) | First £322,000 plus half of remainder | Half of remainder |
| Spouse + children from previous relationship | One third | Two thirds in equal shares |
| Children without spouse | No share | Entire estate in equal shares |
Without a surviving spouse, children divide the entire estate equally among themselves, regardless of age or personal circumstances. Children are entitled to inherit under the intestacy rules automatically.
Intestacy without children: the role of parents and other relatives
Without descendants, the distribution changes significantly. If the deceased leaves a spouse and both parents still living, the spouse receives half the estate and each parent receives one quarter. If only one parent survives, the spouse receives three quarters and the parent receives one quarter. If neither parent is alive, the spouse inherits the entire estate, unless brothers and sisters of the deceased exist, in which case they may inherit a share.
Without spouse or parents, brothers and sisters (or their descendants) inherit. Failing that, the succession passes to grandparents and more distant relatives, following the fixed hierarchy established by law.
How does the order of inheritance work?
The entire mechanism rests on a principle of degree of relationship: within the same category, the relative closest to the deceased excludes more distant ones. A child comes before a grandchild, a sibling before a cousin. The direct line (parents, children, grandchildren) is always favoured over the collateral line (siblings, uncles, cousins), which explains why children and the spouse absorb the vast majority of intestate estates in practice.
The rules of intestate succession
Once the order of heirs is established, the estate distribution is formalised through the probate process. A solicitor or probate specialist will verify the heirs’ identities and their respective rights. They will also check whether any debts left by the deceased must be paid from the estate. An official grant of probate is issued, which authorises the representatives to deal with the deceased’s assets, transfer property, release bank accounts, and settle inheritance tax due to HM Revenue & Customs.
In England and Wales, the personal representative (executor if there was a will, or administrator if intestate) must follow the Administration of Estates Act 1925 and apply the intestacy rules precisely as set out in law.
What happens if there are no identifiable heirs?
It occasionally happens that no heir can be identified in the family or among distant relatives. In this case, the estate is said to be bona vacantia: the Crown takes ownership of all the deceased’s property. This is a rare situation, but it underscores the importance of clarifying one’s family situation during life, especially in the absence of identifiable close relatives.
This system, rigid as it may seem, first protects the closest heirs and guarantees a predictable distribution of the estate. However, it can never replace the personal wishes that a will would allow one to express, nor the flexibility that a gift made during life would have provided.
