If someone dies without a valid Will in place, they will have died “Intestate”. In these circumstances, the deceased’s estate is distributed in accordance with the Rules of Intestacy, regardless of what their personal wishes were.
A Partial Intestacy arises when someone dies leaving a Will but the Will does not dispose of all of the deceased’s assets. The Rules of Intestacy therefore apply to any such assets not covered by the Will.
The Rules of Intestacy govern where an intestate estate goes:
In short, no. Only a spouse or civil partner is entitled to benefit under the Rules of Intestacy. If you wish for a cohabiting or long term partner to receive anything from your estate, you need a Will.
Unless they have been adopted by the deceased, no. Only blood children can benefit under the Rules of Intestacy.
At Kinherit, we have a panel of trusted and regulated firms who we can put you in touch with who can help with the next steps of an intestate estate. Each firm operates differently when it comes to their fees, but these are always discussed with you at the outset before you decide whether you want to proceed.
We do not provide professional representative services in house, as we believe it is a conflict of interest.
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