What is a Will?

A will is a document that allows you to make sure that your assets get to the people that you want. Without a will there is no guarantee that those you love will benefit. Anyone with an estate of £5000.00 or more needs a will so that banks will transfer money to beneficiaries.

Intestacy Rules

When a person (who is a resident of England or Wales) dies without having a Will, or with a Will that has in some way failed, they become intestate. This means that their Estate must be distributed in accordance to the Rules of Intestacy.

The Rules of Intestacy control how the deceased’s estate will be shared out after payment of all his or her debts, for example, funeral costs, have been finalised.

A few things you need to know:

• No provisions are made for unmarried partners
• Step relations have no entitlement
• If the deceased owns the family property, it gets included in the surviving spouse or civil partners entitlements of up to £250,000 and £450,000.