The first step to ensure that your estate is shared out exactly how you want it distributed

It’s easy to put off making a will. But if you die without one your assets may be distributed according to the law rather than your wishes. This could mean that your partner receives less, or that the money goes to family members who may not need it.

Planning your finances in advance should help you to ensure that when you die everything you own goes where you want it to. Making a will is the first step to ensure that your estate is shared out exactly how you want it distributed.

If you don’t, there are rules for sharing out your estate called the Law of Intestacy, which could mean your money going to family members who may not need it, or your unmarried partner, or a partner with whom you are not in a civil partnership, receiving nothing at all. If applicable to your particular situation you should be aware that the Scottish law on inheritance differs from that of the English law.

If you leave everything to your spouse or civil partner there’ll be no Inheritance Tax to pay because they are classed as an exempt beneficiary. Or you may decide to use your tax-free allowance to give some of your estate to someone else, or to a family trust.

A will sets out who is to benefit from your property and possessions (your estate) after your death. There are many good reasons to make a will:

you can decide how your assets are shared if you don’t have a will, the law says who gets what

if you’re an unmarried couple (whether or not it’s a same-sex relationship), you can make sure your partner is provided for

if you’re divorced, you can decide whether to leave anything to your former partner

you can make sure you don’t pay more Inheritance Tax than necessary

Before you write your will, it’s a good idea to think about what you want included in your will. You should consider:

how much money and what property and possessions you have

who you want to benefit from your will
who should look after any children under 18 years of age
who is going to sort out your estate and carry out your wishes after your death, that is your executor

An executor is the person responsible with passing on your estate. You can appoint an executor by naming them in your will. The courts can also appoint other people to be responsible for doing this job.

Once you’ve made your will, it is important to keep it in a safe place and tell your executor, close friend or relative where it is.

You should review your will every five years and after any major change in your life such as getting separated, married or divorced, having a child or moving house. Any change must be by ‘codicil’ (an addition, amendment or supplement to a will) or by making a new 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 July 2009 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.

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

£400,000 (£200,000) free of tax – or the whole estate if it was less than £400,000 (£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

Your 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

£250,000 (£125,000) free of tax – or the whole of the estate if it was less than £250,000 (£125,000)

a life interest in half of the rest of the estate (on his or her death this will pass to the children)

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