Published on: 20th January 2020

Change to inheritance allowance in certain cases of intestacy

Where there is no Will the Government has increased the allowance that a spouse (or civil partner) receives from their deceased partner, if there are children of the deceased, from £250,000 to £270,000. Most people think that if a couple are married then everything always goes to the surviving spouse when the first dies. This is not the case. John and Mary are married with two children. John dies without a Will. He owns the family home worth £400,000 and has savings of £70,000.

The first £270,000 goes to Mary. The balance is divided between Mary and the two children. So Mary receives £370,000 and the children receive £50,000 each. This could put Mary in a very difficult position regarding the family home. If John and Mary had created Wills "leaving everything to each other" then Mary would have inherited the full £470,000 when John died. For a couple who are not married to each other, under the laws of inheritance, there is no such thing as a "common law" partner.

Without a Will there can be surprising consequences as this example shows: Alan and Samantha are partners and have Wills "leaving everything to each other". Alan and Samantha get married and have two children, Tim and Annie. Marriage revokes a Will so Alan and Samantha no longer have valid Wills. Alan and Samantha get divorced. Alan then has a child, Mark, with his new partner Beata. Alan and Beata do not marry. Alan dies. Samantha does not inherit under the intestacy rules because she is divorced from Alan and neither does Beata because she has not married Alan. Tim, Annie and Mark inherit all of Alan's estate in equal shares. Whatever your circumstances it is best to get professional advice.

If you would like to meet one of our Consultants and discuss any of the issues raised in this article or any other Estate Planning topic, please telephone 01732 868190 or click here.

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